Balcones Distillery was a jewel to find!

Several years ago there was an article in Forbes about a distillery in Texas that made fantastic whiskey. The article joked that they made the whiskey in a tiny location under a bridge in a not so great area of town. Since they both live in Texas, I told Amy and John if they ever found a whiskey by Balcones Distillery to buy it and I would repay them. Last Christmas they surprised me by giving me a bottle.

As I was reading about Waco today, I saw a brief mention of the Balcones Distillery and I immediately recognized the name. I looked up their address and entered it into the Jeep GPS and headed off to find them. However, they are a very difficult company to find. I drove all around with the Jeep GPS telling me I had reaching my location and it was an old tire shop. I finally pulled into a parking lot and started walking all around the area. I walked down an alley next to an old cement and steel bridge when all of a sudden I could smell something tangy. I walked a little farther and I saw a steaming still sitting right under the bridge. Literally, there were cars driving over it just a few feet above the still. I walked a little farther and I found some wooden barrels sitting outside a metal storage bin. I knew I had found the place, but I still could not find their building. Very strange! As I was walking around the barrels, a women on the telephone walked out of a small grubby building and asked if she could help me. I told her I was looking for Balcones Distillery and she laughed. The building where she works IS the Balcones Distillery. I told her I had been driving and walking all around trying to find her building. She laughed again and said she hears that all the time. Inside, there was a tiny rack of a few bottles available for sale. She told me I could buy a maximum of 2 bottles. However, at $70 per bottle for their classic single malt whiskey, I figured one bottle would last me a long time. She was gracious enough to take my picture in front of the whiskeys available for purchase. I asked if they had tours and she said they only have tours on Fridays and that all the tours are booked from now through October. Wow! Traveling to new places is so much fun and it is especially fun to find a business like the Balcones Distillery. They are not much to look at, but boy, they sure do make some wonderful whiskey!