Balcones: Next stop, world domination?

[squire]

Hard to explain short of actually bringing you in for a blending session. Picking and mingling barrels sounds easy but I promise you it's not, blending successfully requires a highly trained palate and a solid understanding of aroma and flavor chemistry. Each barrel has its own character, and when working with such a small quantity of them you have to be quite mindful of how they're going to interact. (To paraphrase an analogy from Chip, some barrels could be potatoes and several others could be salt. You add too much salt and your potatoes don't taste good anymore)

Chip has the most well-trained palate of anyone I have ever met. He can literally break the aroma components of a whisky down to the biochemical level with his nose (not an exaggeration, come to the distillery and I'll show you our distiller's nosing kit for some fun). He can then, like a composer penning multiple lines of music at once, mix barrels together in his mind as if they were individual instruments in a symphonic composition. Much in the same way that some instruments can crowd out other ones in a piece of music, the same is true for the ester profiles of individual casks that go into the blend. Aroma masking, among other phenomena, is important to consider. The desired result is something balanced that expresses the best qualities of each barrel.

As previously mentioned, a new blend is tested against the previous. This means that if for any reason the new blend is any less stunning than the last, we will start from scratch and try again until we nail it. No marketing fluff about it, this is just how we do things.

Winston I appreciate you taking the time to post these insights into the Balcones operation.

[wadewood]

As previously mentioned, a new blend is tested against the previous. This means that if for any reason the new blend is any less stunning than the last, we will start from scratch and try again until we nail it. No marketing fluff about it, this is just how we do things.

What this means is Balcones is getting closer to Chip's idea of a great whiskey. It is very well possible that what Chip likes and what you or I like is completely different and I doubt that is going to change much from batch to batch.

[Balcones Winston]

Winston I appreciate you taking the time to post these insights into the Balcones operation.

My pleasure! I think it's safe to assume the vast majority of users here have never worked in a distillery so I'm happy to provide any insights I can. It's a helluva lot different from the big operations out there, and there's more work to be done than most might think. If you guys have any questions, feel free to post them up!

[Balcones Winston]

That's some great marketing strategy. Hey we know you thought that $45 bottle whiskey was bad, but trust us and buy a bottle again - it's great now. Do you stand behind that with a moneyback guarantee?

[ChainWhip]

Winston, I appreciate your candidness. Like I said, I'll give Balcones a try again in the future because I know a one-time taste is not enough to get to know a whisky.

I have high hopes for you little guys.

[Balcones Winston]

Balcones Texas Single Malt is an absolute treat. Great flavor profile and a generous proof. I look forward to further age and development.

[Yeti]

Glad to hear you're enjoying it. Must be those sharp pot still notes mixed with dirty barley distillate that really set it off

[Balcones Winston]

Winston, I appreciate your candidness. Like I said, I'll give Balcones a try again in the future because I know a one-time taste is not enough to get to know a whisky.

I have high hopes for you little guys.

[ChainWhip]

Awesome! What state are you in? WA? CA?

[Balcones Winston]

I'm friends with a few Texas Ex-Pats here in WV, and I brought the Single Malt and Brimstone to a Texas Independence Day party in March. Neither bottle survived the night.

[Balcones Winston]

WA. I've had your whisky @ Canon, Liberty, etc., here in the Seattle area. They're probably older batches so I'm going to ask for the bottle before ordering next time. A lot of the stuff on then shelves here are from 2012 so I'm waiting for stock to cycle through to the newer bottlings.

[ChainWhip]

Better yet, wait for me to come into town next and we can have a private tasting with some rarer expressions

[MyOldKyDram]

Private tasting? Sounds romantic.

[Balcones Winston]

Private tasting? Sounds romantic.

We can make it a threesome if you're DTS (down to sip )

[weller_tex]

For the record, we have pretty thick skin at Balcones Besides, for every 1 person that makes a negative comment there are 20 more in line dying to buy a bottle

I can tell you do. Frankly if you are selling a product that you make yourself you are a pretty bad businessman if you don't have a thick skin. Getting all huffy or defensive about criticism has started the downfall of a lot of businesses. Many kudos to you for coming here and interacting and giving folks reasons to buy your whiskey. Still too rich for my blood but you are building a good case.

[SWC]

We can make it a threesome if you're DTS (down to sip )

Forget requiring SB members to be nice to distillers. Moderators, these distillery guys need to roped in!

[Balcones Winston]

[wadewood]

I'm not sure if I've offended you or if you are just busting our balls for the sake of busting our balls. I expressed my regret for a customer's experience, and politely invited them to give us another chance. I think anything short of that would be a terrible strategy. There's no "marketing" angle to it. Just the honest truth, something that we believe in unlike so many other brands out there. As someone who is such a stickler for the truth, it's hard to figure out why you don't stand behind us more openly.

Neither, you have never offended me nor am I trying to bust your or Balcones balls. I'm stating my opinion which I free to do on this board about any brand; if you perceive it as one of the above, that's your opinion.

Of course it's a marketing angle. Marketing defined - the process or technique of promoting, selling and distributing a product or service.

For the record and openly, I do respect what Balcones is doing. They are a true craft distillery doing everything from scratch. Everything they have sold, they have made themselves. I enjoy the Rumble, love the Rumble Cask Reserve, I think the Single Malt is the best Malt currently produced in the US.

[AGarrison]

Come on by Knoxville, Balcones Winston! We will treat you right to some real bbq. Just bring along plenty of samples. I'll take you over to the Sam Houston schoolhouse and we can raise a toast to Sam and Balcones.

[Clavius]

Hey Winston, I appreciate your posting and interacting with us here on SB. I think it's neat to have someone in the industry here. Especially someone from a micro.

Earlier in the year a member here gave me a generous sample of your Single Malt. I tasted it and was impressed with it. So I splurged not long afterwards and bought a bottle, despite the price. I have enjoyed the bottle (batch: SM12-7 date: 8/30/12) quite a bit and still have half of it left. In my verdict it's a quality whisky. I have also tasted your Baby Blue corn whiskey which I thought was different but certainly interesting. I look forward to seeing what Balcones does in the future.

[Balcones Winston]

Hey Winston, I appreciate your posting and interacting with us here on SB. I think it's neat to have someone in the industry here. Especially someone from a micro.

Earlier in the year a member here gave me a generous sample of your Single Malt. I tasted it and was impressed with it. So I splurged not long afterwards and bought a bottle, despite the price. I have enjoyed the bottle (batch: SM12-7 date: 8/30/12) quite a bit and still have half of it left. In my verdict it's a quality whisky. I have also tasted your Baby Blue corn whiskey which I thought was different but certainly interesting. I look forward to seeing what Balcones does in the future.

Great to hear you liked it! Sounds like those "Balconites" aren't a bunch of loons after all

Glad to be here and be part of the crowd!

[Balcones Winston]

Guyz... Guyz! Guess what????

We're going to build a new distillery!

:woohoo::woohoo::woohoo::woohoo::woohoo:

We just closed a deal that will allow us to expand into our second building, a 65k square foot fireproof storage building just a few blocks away from our current distillery. This will boost our production capacity 1000% or more. We'll finally be able to fulfill all the orders we've got and have extra room to work on some other whiskeys we have ideas for

Party tiiiiime!

[Trey Manthey]

Niiiiiice! Congrats...excited to see what the future holds.

[MyOldKyDram]

That is supremely cool for you guys. Let me offer a heartfelt congratulations and wish you much continued success! Celebrate with something special tonight, and be sure to keep the dog away this time.

[Balcones Winston]

That is supremely cool for you guys. Let me offer a heartfelt congratulations and wish you much continued success! Celebrate with something special tonight, and be sure to keep the dog away this time.