I wanted to write about Firestone & Robertson Distilling Co. for a while. I ordered its TX Whiskey once on a whim a few years ago and was instantly a fan. From friends in the bar industry, I was aware of how popular it was. But I never got around to really digging into the story of its founders, Leonard Firestone and Troy Robertson, until they were set to open what you might call the duo’s dream house: Whiskey Ranch, the largest distillery west of the Mississippi, situated on the former Glen Garden Country Club golf course in Fort Worth.
I went out there in late November, mostly to see what they were calling “whiskey paradise.” And it is beautiful, and the new distilling setup is impressive. But the most interesting thing, to me, was the story of how it all came to be, which sounds too good to be true. To begin with: two friends and neighbors separately and without telling each other decide to start Fort Worth’s first legal distillery. There’s more here. Maybe too much? Who’s to say?
