Waco's Balcones Distillery has been acquired by global beverage company Diageo, according to an announcement on Wednesday.
The Waco-based distillery was founded in 2008 and is "a celebrated player in the emerging whiskey movement in Texas." Since being founded the distillery has given back to the local community including making sanitizer throughout a shortage during the pandemic.
In April of 2020, Balcones offered anyone who showed up to its downtown distillery up to two free bottles of hand sanitizer while the product was in high demand across Texas.
"Balcones embraces Texas’ intense heat as well as its temperature fluctuations to create whiskies with differentiated flavours," said Diageo's announcement. "The team also leverages distinctive high quality, and often locally sourced, original ingredients, including Texas-grown malted barley and roasted blue corn, to produce a range of highly decorated whiskies."
According to the announcement, the super-premium and above whiskey segment has seen consistent volume growth in the US in recent years, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 13.3 percent from 2016 to 2021.
“Balcones started with an idea driven by an innovative spirit and passion to create something original and authentic in the heart of Texas," said Greg Allen, Balcones Distilling chairman.
"Now, we couldn’t be prouder to have created these award-winning American Single Malt and Texas whiskies, but also to have helped initiate an exciting new era of whisk(e)y in Texas."
