Yellow Rose Harris County Bourbon Review (Texas Bourbon) | Tortured Bourbon

Jan 20

Yellow Rose Harris County Bourbon Review: Houston’s Texas Bourbon With a Mean Pecan-Pie Punch

What’s up, Tortured Bourbon family?

We’re back with another episode—and this time we’re heading to Texas.

Tonight’s bottle is Yellow Rose Harris County Bourbon, a whiskey that wears its Texas attitude proudly: warm-climate maturation, bold flavor, and a profile that doesn’t apologize for being big.

And yes—before B gets distracted—like, subscribe, and if you want the full Tortured Bourbon universe (episodes, merch, rants, raves, reviews, and whatever chaos we post next), head to torturedbourbon.com.

The Bottle: What Is Yellow Rose Harris County?

Yellow Rose Harris County is made by Yellow Rose Distilling out of Houston, Texas—known as Houston’s first legal distillery since Prohibition, founded in 2010.

Yellow Rose has built a reputation around:

quality-first production
local pride
and whiskey that tastes like it came from a place with actual weather (Texas heat doesn’t do “subtle”)

Harris County is a great example of what Texas distilling can bring to the table: sweetness + spice, with enough character to stand out from the usual Kentucky lane.

Bottle Stats (The Nerd Stuff We Secretly Love)

Here’s what you need to know before you pour:

Bottle: Yellow Rose Harris County Bourbon
Mashbill: 75% corn / 20% rye / 5% malted barley
Proof: 92 proof
Age Statement: None listed (Texas climate-driven maturation)
MSRP: ~$50

Texas heat can push whiskey to mature faster, which can mean deeper flavor development earlier—but also the whiskey has to be built to handle it. Harris County is designed to lean into that warm-climate intensity without getting sideways.

Katie’s Corner: Official Tasting Notes (We Don’t Argue With Science)

We do not tell B or Heather what to taste.

Katie brings the official notes. We react like functioning adults (barely).

NOSE

Brown sugar
Cherry
Fruit-wood smoke
Toasted pecan
Tobacco

PALATE

Brown sugar
Cinnamon
Allspice
Warm pecan pie
Toasted coconut
Black tea
Peanuts

FINISH

Moderately long finish
Sweetness throughout
Pop of cinnamon candy

If “pecan pie with a little smoke drifting through the kitchen” sounds like your kind of pour… yeah. You’re in the right place.

Watch the Episode

https://youtu.be/PLVUO9Dfb6w

On-Camera Tasting + The Tortured Bourbon Verdict

This is the part where we actually drink it, start confident, and then immediately spiral into:

live reactions
arguments over “approachable” vs “bold”
and the moment B decides something tastes like a completely unrelated memory from 1997

We’ll run it through the full Tortured Bourbon process and land on a rating from our scale:

Cock of the Walk
Hush Your Mouth
That Dog Will Hunt
Bless Your Heart
Piddlin’

Drop a comment on the video (or here on the site) and tell us what you think:

Is Yellow Rose Harris County a legit Texas bourbon buy—or a pass at $50?