Balcones Distilling continues its 2016 winning streak at the Spirits Business' American Whiskey Masters Competition, bringing home two prestigious awards. Balcones was named Grand Master American Whiskey and Baby Blue was named Taste Master.
According to The Spirits Business, the Global Spirits Masters is one of the most renowned blind tasting competitions in the world. Each year medalists who have accumulated the most points in individual Spirits Masters competitions are eligible to be named Grand Masters during the ceremony. Balcones was awarded Grand Master based on the number of other awards the distillery received in 2016 during the WWM competition.
Kristiane Sherry, The Spirits Business Editor, commented, “Our Global Spirits Masters Taste Masters were introduced in 2015 with the intention of recognizing the very best spirits product in each category. Each Master or High-Gold winning entry is re-tasted blind by the judges, with the Taste Master Award going to the top-performing spirit decided by consensus of the panel. It's a fantastic win for Balcones’ Baby Blue, as it celebrates this unique spirit as the dram of the day in our 2016 American Whiskey Masters.”
“We are thrilled to be honored once again at this prestigious international competition,” said Balcones Head Distiller Jared Himstedt. “It is always humbling to have industry professionals and experts evaluate your work with high marks. The Taste Maker Award for Baby Blue is an extra special treat for us.”
Earlier this year, Balcones Distilling moved operations to the stunning new distillery site in downtown Waco, Texas. Formerly the old Texas Fireproof Storage Building, the new location provides Balcones with capacity to keep up with demand and dedicate more production to experimentation. The new site also provides Himstedt and his team the flexibility to create new styles of Texas whiskies and spirits. Brand-new copper pot stills from Forsyths of Scotland are a standout feature at the nearly 100-year-old structure of steel, concrete and brick. Additionally, Balcones has four times the spirit still capacity in the new location, with room to grow. The Waco distiller celebrated the end of commissioning of the building on April 20th in a special ribbon cutting ceremony and production has begun in the expanded facility. November 12th marked the Distillery's public opening and beginning of guided tours and tastings at the new facility.