The 21+ tasting lounge opened to Leander residents in 2019 following the success of Calame’s spirits line, Leanderthal Distilling.
“The goal was to make sure everything we do is that it is the intersection of quality and affordability,” said Calame. “Where for the price, you're not going to find anything better.”
Respecting the craft
The distillery first opened in 2016 after Calame’s interest in home brewing led him to begin experimenting with agave nectar, an idea that turned into the first official product: TexAgave. The blue agave spirit, comparable to a tequila, pioneered the distillery’s current lineup, consisting of Leanderthal Vodka, Tasteless Vodka. Triple Secession Orange Liquor, You May bourbon and more.
“Everybody in this area is familiar with our Leanderthal Vodka, which is our best seller in the retail marketplace within our footprint,” Calame said. “Our best selling bottle here at the tasting room when we saw bottles directly to the public is “You May All Go To Hell.” We call it You May for short. But lately our Java Gava coffee liqueur has been really popular.”
How we got here
The tasting room initially opened as a way for Calame to showcase various products and generate a direct revenue stream. In Texas, distilled spirit sales are managed through a three-tier distribution system, where companies have to go through a distributor in order to sell to liquor stores. This means that when a product leaves the facility, he may not see any profit from it for 30-90 days, Calame said. However, with the tasting room, people can buy bottles directly from the source–and taste the liquors first in the form of creative cocktails.
“[Opening the tasting room] has turned out to be more fun and more rewarding than I would have ever anticipated,” Calame said. “And when I talk about rewarding, I don't really mean financial, I mean the relationships that I've built with customers here. People who came here and gave us a chance to see what we were doing and ended up realizing we're just doing best-in-class stuff across all of the spaces that we're in product wise.”
Calame said that with a 21+ age limit, he is carving out a space for people in their 20s and people in their 70s to come together under the same roof to enjoy a drink.
It’s 5 o’clock somewhere
Menu items at the lounge include liquor exclusively made in house, per the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission.
“On the one hand you would think that that is sort of limiting, but I prefer to look at that as a challenge for creativity,” Calame said.
Due to the unique circumstances, Calame said requirements for being a bartender on staff includes creativity, experimentation, and a sense of humor. Calame said he draws inspiration for new menu items from the jam aisle of the grocery store and looks for ways to incorporate different syrups and non alcoholic additives.
One of their signature drinks is the Basil Fawlty, which is fresh basil muddled with a little bit of sugar, lemon juice and Whit's Leander Dry Gin or one of their vodkas.
“It's very aromatic and one of my favorite descriptions a customer ever said about it was ‘oh my god this is like drinking the garden’ just really fresh and herbal,” Calame said.
Looking ahead
Calame said his primary goal for the future is to keep expanding into large-scale retail sales, with the hope that one day every liquor store in Texas will be selling a Leanderthal Distillery product.
“We're always delighted, happy, ecstatic when people come here and buy bottles directly from us, that's great,” Calame said. “But if there's anything that makes me happier, it's when somebody down in South Austin or over in Pflugerville tells me, ‘hey we bought your vodka, we bought your bourbon at this liquor store.’”
Up next for the distillery is a collaboration with the Texas Navy Association to release both a Texas Navy silver rum and a dark rum. The new products are available for purchase at the distillery, with a portion of the proceeds going back to the Texas Navy Association—another example of community coming together at Leanderthal.
- 11894 Hero Way W A, Leander
- www.leanderthaltx.com
