Located at 225 S Charles St in Old Town Lewisville, Bendt Distilling has built a name for itself with hand-crafted whiskies and spirits, and after spending a Friday evening there, I completely understand why.
Quick heads up before you plan your own trip: this is a 21-and-up experience through and through no kids allowed on the tour or in the tasting room.
First Impressions: The Gift Shop
The tour starts right where you’d expect to end up in the gift shop.
Our guide gathered the group here first, laid out what we’d be seeing and doing over the next hour or so, and gave us a quick history lesson on Bendt’s roots and how their whiskey actually comes together.
It’s a smart way to kick things off; by the time we walked into the production area, we already had context for what we were looking at instead of just nodding along at shiny equipment.
The Tour Itself
The full tour ran somewhere between 30 and 45 minutes, which felt just right but long enough to actually learn something, short enough that nobody in our group got restless. The guide walked us through their process step by step, and it was clear this is a team that takes the craft seriously rather than just going through the motions for visitors.
Back to the Gift Shop for the Good Part: Sampling
Once the tour wrapped, we landed back in the gift shop for tastings, and this is where things got interesting. Bendt offers a rotating lineup of their spirits to sample, but the real showstopper was learning about their Straight from the Barrel HAZMAT edition. We’re talking proof numbers that made our group audibly react:
- Bourbon, Barrel No. 1540 — 146.6 proof
- Malt, Barrel No. 972 — 147.25 proof
- Rye, Barrel No. 1835 — 147.18 proof
- Wheat, Barrel No. 1372 — 146.94 proof
Yikes is right. These aren’t sipping whiskies for the faint of heart, and the “HAZMAT” name isn’t just for show. The kicker is that you don’t even need a tour reservation to get your hands on one according to Bendt’s website, these barrel-strength releases are sold first come, first served straight through the distillery gift shop.
If you’re the kind of person who collects rare or high-proof bottles, this alone might be worth the trip.
The Bonus: Ethel Jane’s Bendt Whiskey Kitchen
As we were checking out, the staff handed us a discount voucher for Ethel Jane’s Bendt Whiskey Kitchen, and that ended up being the unexpected highlight of the day.
The space has this cool, laid-back-but-lively vibe, with bookshelves giving it a quaint, almost literary feel that you don’t expect from a distillery’s restaurant.
The menu covers a solid range: salads, sandwiches, soups, and a charcuterie board that’s great for sharing.
But save room for dessert.
The Bendt whiskey cake and the whiskey toffee cookies are genuinely excellent, the kind of thing you’ll think about days later. Pair any of it with one of their mixed drinks and you’ve got yourself a complete afternoon.
The Takeaway
Between the tour, the eye-watering HAZMAT barrel proofs, and a meal at Ethel Jane’s that overdelivered, this was an easy win for a Father’s Day outing.
If you’re in or near Lewisville, it’s worth carving out an afternoon for.
Plan your visit:
Distillery tours: Fridays at 6pm, Saturdays at 1pm and 3pm
21 and up only no children allowed on tours or in the tasting room
HAZMAT barrel releases: available at the gift shop, no tour or reservation needed
Also offered: a Bendt cocktail-making class at the Ethel Jane’s location
Have you been? Let me know what you tried and what you thought.
Location: 225 S Charles St, Lewisville, TX 75057
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