Balcones is an American craft distillery founded by Chip Tate, who felt the urge do something new. Instead of just trying out a different recipe of pasta sauce or something boring like that, he decided that he wanted to start a Texas whisky tradition. Much more exciting.
The Balcones distillery is housed within an old welding shop under a bridge in Waco, Texas. While that might sound like the setting for a horror movie, it’s actually the birthplace of delicious and legendary craft whisky! A vast majority of the equipment used by Balcones to make the whisky was built by Chip and other Balcones members using sheet metal, welding tools and hammers. The end result was a fully functional distillery made by hand, exactly how they wanted it.
Following that extreme display of ingenuity and awesomeness came even more ingenuity and awesomeness as they started distilling their whisky. They produced the the Texas Single Malt, and the first ever Blue Corn whisky, the True Blue, both of which have been showered in accolades and awards. As they continue to add new whiskies and get medals draped around their necks, we’d say that Chip has achieved his goal. Balcones makes Texas whisky, not just whisky made in Texas.