Many people likely have driven right by a business park at North Post Oak Road without knowing it contains Houston’s first legal whiskey distillery. Or that for a $25 admission fee, you can hear the history of this hidden gem, partake in a full tasting and even take in some award-winning photography.

Yellow Rose Distilling, LLC, at 1224 N. Post Oak Rd #100 in the Spring Branch Management District, specializes in handmade, blended and bottled premium whiskey.

Created in 2010 and launched in the Texas market in 2012, Yellow Rose opened the distillery in 2014 with a full bar and tours. In 2017, after years of growth, Yellow Rose partnered with Dallas-based Zamora Company USA in 2017, enabling the company to share its whiskey nationally and abroad. Zamora manages sales, distribution, execution and marketing of a number of spirits and wines.

Yellow Rose has been honored as “best in class” for its Outlaw Bourbon at the American Distilling Institute and also received a double gold award for its Straight Rye Whiskey at the San Francisco Artisan Spirits. But despite the good taste and expansion of the brand, few businesses, including Yellow Rose, could escape the COVID-19 pandemic. When the tasting room had to close and tours had to stop, Yellow Rose took the opportunity to do a complete remodel of the local facility.

A year into the re-opening of the distillery, the tasting room is host to private and public events, including weekly happy hours, steak nights and Bourbon and Bingo. On a recent Saturday afternoon, the staff prepared for a going-away party as patrons sipped on signature cocktails at the bar. Televisions overhead carried the day’s sports events.

Tours, which start with a walk through the distillery and end with a tasting in the bar area, offer a glimpse into the distilling process, production, distribution and the blending of two companies with many changes happening in real time. A staff member expertly takes you through your whiskey flight after the tour, explaining the varieties and teaching you how to smell, sip and savor each unique flavor.

Also on the tour, offered every hour on the hour that the distillery is open, is a photo gallery showcasing the work of the late Jim Marshall, a photographer and photojournalist known for his iconic images of musicians of the 1960s and ’70s.

The Yellow Rose Jim Marshall photography exhibit includes images of the very first Willie Nelson’s Fourth of July picnic, the Dripping Springs Reunion, now a revered Texas summer tradition.

The first whiskey created at Yellow Rose was its flagship “Outlaw Bourbon.” True to its name, it broke all the rules; it’s made from 100 percent Texas yellow corn and aged in American oak barrels.

“So, as we were designing our new tasting room and visitors’ center it seemed only fitting that we should pay tribute to the ‘Original Outlaws’ – and their ties to Texas – by sharing some of their stories through the lens of the legendary Jim Marshall,” said Michael Langan, Yellow Rose’s head of distillery.

The photo exhibit is featured on three walls of the Outlaw Room, which is available for rent for private parties of up to 250 people. The distillery rents the Tasting Room and a wine cellar for smaller events.

Yellow Rose Distillery
1224 North Post Oak, Suite 100
Houston, TX 77055
281-886-8757

To schedule a tour, visit: https://yellowrosedistilling.com/tour-booking/

For the calendar of events, visit: https://yellowrosedistilling.com/events/

— by Dorothy Puch Lillig