Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/46939
A LONE STAR LIFE Texas Single Malt Whisky t ANOTHER THING OF BEAUTY YOU'RE MISSING BY NOT LIVING HERE by Anthony Head / photos by Kirk Weddle he Texas craft-distilling industry grew by leaps and bounds these past couple of years, fueled in part by strong, inner-state cus- tomer loyalties toward home state spirit mak- ers. Texans love Texas products—and Texas liquor stores feature Texas vodka, Texas gin, Texas bourbon, Texas rum and Texas liqueurs. Not all of them make it past the Texas border to the national markets, but that just leaves more for us Texans. This past September, Texas whisky enthu- siasts celebrated another delicious milestone: Balcones Distilling, located in Waco, intro- duced Texas Single Malt Whisky to a small but very grateful gathering in Austin. While pour- ing the first sips for the public, Steve Germer and his partner at Balcones and Master Distiller Chip Tate took a well-deserved bow. "The whole concept behind Balcones was to get to this point," Tate said. "This isn't to take away anything from our other products, but this one really, really means something to me." 48 / the tasting panel / november 201 1