Balcones Distilling

Chip Tate and Jared Himstedt set it up in a former welding shop under the 17th Street Bridge, and Tate built the first distillery by hand.^1,2,3 Production began there in 2009.^6,7

In 2011 Balcones bought the Texas Fireproof Storage building, built in 1923, as a place to age barrels.^6,7,8 A sudden flood of demand led the company to take on PE Investors, a private equity firm that bought a majority stake in February 2013.^6,9 Founding president Chip Tate left in late 2014 after months of legal battles, and the board bought his 27% stake.^6,9 Keith Bellinger became president, and Himstedt took over as head distiller.^6,9 Production began there in early 2016, with two sets of 4-story copper stills and four times the old still capacity.^6,7,10 Forsyths of Scotland built the new pot stills to recreate the first distillery's two hand-built spirit stills, which do the second distillation.^6,7,10

Diageo bought Balcones on 2 November 2022.^1,4 In August 2025 Diageo paused distilling and barrel filling, and 17 production workers lost their jobs.^4,11,12 At the time, Diageo said the pause would last through June 2026.^4,11,12

It has mashed blue corn from New Mexico and Texas-grown malted barley, and it roasts the blue corn before mashing.^1,2,5 Himstedt has said it chose Golden Promise, an older Scotch barley variety fewer distillers now use, for its single malt.^2,13,14 Its whisky ages through Texas heat and wide temperature swings, which Whisky Advocate said let its single malts mature within a few years.^1,13,15 Himstedt has said a two-day period can bring a 40-degree Fahrenheit swing.^1,13,15