Balcones: Next stop, world domination?

[Jono]

Some semantics in play here - artificial in this case meant it was added to the product and is not from the product of distillation and aging.

I suppose saying it is a natural additive may be more accurate but without a real difference.

adjective: artificial

1.

made or produced by human beings rather than occurring naturally, typically as a copy of something natural.

"E150a (plain caramel) is "prepared by the controlled heat treatment of carbohydrates (commercially available food grade nutritive sweeteners which are the monomers glucose and fructose and/or polymers thereof, e.g., glucose syrups, sucrose, and/or invert syrups, and dextrose). To promote caramelization, acids, alkalis and salts may be employed"

Anyway, what is a recommended Balcones line up?

[portwood]

adjective: artificial

made or produced by human beings rather than occurring naturally, typically as a copy of something natural.

[Jono]

You mean, like whiskey, including Balcones?:slappin:

Edited September 8, 2013 by Jono

[wadewood]

He is using a really old bottling in the video... don't know where he got a hold of that. We plan on sending him one of the newer batches, along with some Brimstone since he seems so curious.

IMHO, reviewers should only buy products off the shelf that way we know they are not getting honey bottles made for reviewers only.

I recently saw several bottles of Baby Blue on the shelf that must have been from 1st release - the color was way lighter than current product.

[portwood]

IMHO, reviewers should only buy products off the shelf that way we know they are not getting honey bottles made for reviewers only.

That's one of the reasons to like Ralfy - he buys everything he reviews! (he does acknowledge getting some money from banner ads on his site and does trade for stuff. For example: a bottle of Still Waters Canadian single malt he reviewed recently was given to him by the distillery during a visit but he gave the distiller a bottle of scotch he brought with him from Scotland. Regardless what he gave, the distiller got the better of the deal, LOL, the stuff isn't very good, though Ralfy gave it an 81)

Edited September 9, 2013 by portwood

[Balcones Winston]

I suppose you don't consume any softdrinks and you grow ALL the food you eat ...

I'm not a chemist - though I play one on the internet - but I believe e150a (the stuff used to add color to alcohol) is considered natural not artificial.

[Balcones Winston]

IMHO, reviewers should only buy products off the shelf that way we know they are not getting honey bottles made for reviewers only.

I recently saw several bottles of Baby Blue on the shelf that must have been from 1st release - the color was way lighter than current product.

Edited September 9, 2013 by Balcones Winston

[cowdery]

Back to World Domination.

A friend of mine in Australia was surprised a few days ago. First he got the big Craft Whiskey issue of Whisky Advocate. Then he went to a whiskey show where Balcones, Koval, Few, and High West were exhibiting.

He had an interesting question. Do these tiny distilleries really have enough output to support distribution to Australia?

[theglobalguy]

On that note, is it about pride/ego/prestige that causes these guys to spread so wide and far? I remember reading about Stranahans pulling back to CO and thinking "thank you, i'd rather your loyal customers get enough than everyone get pissed off".

My local shop has been stocked out of Balcones Texas Single Malt for months. No word on when they'll re-stock. And here i am buying other brands rather than waiting (think that's what they call a zero sum game).

[wadewood]

Back to World Domination.

A friend of mine in Australia was surprised a few days ago. First he got the big Craft Whiskey issue of Whisky Advocate. Then he went to a whiskey show where Balcones, Koval, Few, and High West were exhibiting.

He had an interesting question. Do these tiny distilleries really have enough output to support distribution to Australia?

I live a few hours hours away from Balcones and several of their products are missing from them shelf here, so my answer is no. It's almost a self fulfilling prophecy; our products are so hard too find they must be great. Great marketing; it's worked wonders for Van Winkle.

[portwood]

He had an interesting question. Do these tiny distilleries really have enough output to support distribution to Australia?

The more likely answer is that when they can't find enough locals to buy into the story (due to high price and/or poor quality) they need to find other markets to survive. Sometimes they can find people with tastes that match their product or simply greater fools than the locals.

Every entrepreneur believes what they have for sale is the greatest. When they can't find people close to home that agree, they will try to find them elsewhere. On very rare occasions what they have is actually good and it takes someone far away to buy it before the locals "get it"*.

*an example of this is Forty Creek. Few in Canada (Ontario) cared for the stuff so they exported to Texas where it became popular. After a while Canadians caught on and they are now the darlings of Canadian whisky. (I've tried a few and still don't "get it" )

Edited September 11, 2013 by portwood

[squire]

Selling overseas is how KBD got established so the plan works.

Speaking of brands, Cutty Sark was developed specifically for the American market and that worked out pretty well.

[camduncan]

You can see them listed here at one of our specialty stores:

http://www.nicks.com.au/Product/Search?q=balcones

I'm not sure how the prices compare to the US, but it'll be interesting to watch and see if they get a following here. Personally, I can see myself buying a bottle of Baby Blue as a Christmas gift to myself, but that's the exception as I generally don't spend over $100 on something without tasting it first.... Others mileage may vary

[theglobalguy]

You can see them listed here at one of our specialty stores:

http://www.nicks.com.au/Product/Search?q=balcones

I'm not sure how the prices compare to the US, but it'll be interesting to watch and see if they get a following here. Personally, I can see myself buying a bottle of Baby Blue as a Christmas gift to myself, but that's the exception as I generally don't spend over $100 on something without tasting it first.... Others mileage may vary

Looks like 2.5-3x US pricing. Though wandering that website, that seems to be the normal price delta from here to there.

[camduncan]

Looks like 2.5-3x US pricing. Though wandering that website, that seems to be the normal price delta from here to there.

Yeah, unfortunately these guys pretty much go it alone from a single retail outlet. Stock availability aside, if a big multi-national like Dan Murphys or 1st Choice picked them up, they'd be bringing in container loads for national distribution (instead of a case or two for one store) and could probably drive the price down somewhat.

[r60slash5]

Ralfy just had some nice things to say about Baby Blue in Review 390 (2/2). He's been complimentary on the Balcones website pointing it out as a standard for others more then once. A foothold in a Manx bothy one step closer to world domination!:grin:

Ted

[Balcones Winston]

Back to World Domination.

A friend of mine in Australia was surprised a few days ago. First he got the big Craft Whiskey issue of Whisky Advocate. Then he went to a whiskey show where Balcones, Koval, Few, and High West were exhibiting.

He had an interesting question. Do these tiny distilleries really have enough output to support distribution to Australia?

[Balcones Winston]

On that note, is it about pride/ego/prestige that causes these guys to spread so wide and far? I remember reading about Stranahans pulling back to CO and thinking "thank you, i'd rather your loyal customers get enough than everyone get pissed off".

My local shop has been stocked out of Balcones Texas Single Malt for months. No word on when they'll re-stock. And here i am buying other brands rather than waiting (think that's what they call a zero sum game).

Continuing with the previous post, we set up our current distribution footprint before Balcones became so highly sought after. We were expanding at a relatively good pace for our production up until then, can't say we expected to get so popular so fast. Thankfully, with the new equipment we're installing at our current facility, and the new distillery now under construction, it won't be like this forever. We are truly sorry that we can't supply everyone at once, just an unfortunate (yet temporary) drawback to all the press and awards we've received.

[Balcones Winston]

I live a few hours hours away from Balcones and several of their products are missing from them shelf here, so my answer is no. It's almost a self fulfilling prophecy; our products are so hard too find they must be great. Great marketing; it's worked wonders for Van Winkle.

It's not marketing Wade, it's just the inevitable result of being so small yet so in demand so fast. Our production capacity is vastly limited by the size of our distillery and equipment. Our commitment to quality also impedes the flow of product as we won't release a whisky that isn't just as good or better than the previous batch.

The silver lining here though is that thanks to all the amazing attention we've gotten around the world, we were able to secure new partners in the company who are funding the construction of our new facility, which means that one day we'll be able supply all of our current markets very well, along with the rest of the planet.

Keep in mind that our output is to Van Winkle as Van Winkle is to Jim Beam. We really just don't have the equipment or enough hours in the day to make any more than we already do.

[Balcones Winston]

Selling overseas is how KBD got established so the plan works.

I think this is a good example of why it is important to branch out - especially to the tastemaker markets. London, Chicago, San Francisco, NYC, etc are all very important if you want to establish yourself as a global force rather than a small local brand. We have big dreams for Balcones that are finally starting to come true, and I don't think we could have done it were it not for our expansion outside of the state.

Not to say Texas isn't an important market to us, because it is one of our top priorities. Demand here is stronger than ever, it's basically an insatiable market at this point.

[Balcones Winston]

The more likely answer is that when they can't find enough locals to buy into the story (due to high price and/or poor quality) they need to find other markets to survive. Sometimes they can find people with tastes that match their product or simply greater fools than the locals.

Expanding to other markets is partially about survival, especially when you're just starting out. But if you want to grow, it's also a necessary step. We never planned to be small forever, and thankfully our plans are finally in motion.

Every entrepreneur believes what they have for sale is the greatest. When they can't find people close to home that agree, they will try to find them elsewhere. On very rare occasions what they have is actually good and it takes someone far away to buy it before the locals "get it"*.

I think we're a bit more modest than that We did take a while to catch on in Texas, but that was mostly due to the fact that people simply didn't know we existed. We didn't advertise, we relied on word of mouth, awards and press to propel ourselves into the position we're in now.

[squire]

I think the made in Texas image has a certain level of appeal overseas. Even the Germans can pronounce J.R. Ewing.

[Trey Manthey]

I was surprised to see Balcones available in many shops in Edinburgh the last couple weeks. True Blue 100, Brimstone, and Baby Blue were stocked in at least 5 shops.

[theglobalguy]

Continuing with the previous post, we set up our current distribution footprint before Balcones became so highly sought after. We were expanding at a relatively good pace for our production up until then, can't say we expected to get so popular so fast. Thankfully, with the new equipment we're installing at our current facility, and the new distillery now under construction, it won't be like this forever. We are truly sorry that we can't supply everyone at once, just an unfortunate (yet temporary) drawback to all the press and awards we've received.

As usual, i appreciate your candor. I just hate buying 3 hours away from home and not supporting my local shop wherever possible, or jumping on to another brand out of frustration.

[Guest]

I think the made in Texas image has a certain level of appeal overseas. Even the Germans can pronounce J.R. Ewing.

I just imagined JR Ewing being shouted at by Colonel Klink, thanks for the laugh