To announce an award-winning craft distillery on the national stage, showcasing their immense potential while maintaining the core values that built their brand.
In 2008, Texas was not known for whisky. There was no blueprint for how to make it there. No one to follow, no path in place. In fact, no one had distilled whisky in Texas since prohibition.
Then came a team of makers intent on making something meaningful—a collective of ceramicists, fine artists, musicians, and scientists.
Together they decided to explore the world of distilling in Texas, taking inspiration from their surroundings. Through hard work, fearless experimentation, and a humble commitment to the flavors of their unique landscape, they created Balcones.
Before long, a vision that started in an old welding shop under a bridge in Waco, TX transformed into an award-winning distillery. The team produced a whisky like no one else in the world — spirits crafted in harmony with the intense and volatile climate of the Lone Star State.
Balcones brought whisky back to Texas – now, it was time to bring their whisky to the rest of the world.
As Texas’ first-ever Single Malt Whisky, Balcones has never followed in others’ footsteps. There were no footsteps to follow. So, we knew we had to find a distinctly Balcones way to introduce them to whisky explorers across the country.
We couldn’t rely on old-school whisky tropes. And the party energy of the brands chasing Gen Z wasn’t right either. We were forging a category tone for what officially became American Single Malt Whisky in January 2025.
So, to tell this first-of-its-kind story, we went deep. As deep as the fault line Balcones was named after.
Balcones isn’t simply whisky from a new place, it’s Whisky from a New Perspective. A reflective and thought-provoking distillation that pushes whisky explorers to think differently about what whisky from Texas can be. Taking inspiration from the brand’s core values, we crafted a story that spanned beyond the usual category norms of process, place, and product into an exploration of both the physical and philosophical frontiers.
We launched with a set of 15- and 30-second campaign spots that married the brand’s unique approach to making whisky with the creativity and presence that are pillars of the Balcones brand. Our imagery emphasized our connection to the natural world, and a subtle sense of surrealism drew out a cinematic quality in each shot and every frame. A dramatic, desire-driven style worthy of this deep, thoughtful, and genre-defining American Single Malt.
Instead of using celebrities to sell our story like many alcohol brands, we championed the real storytellers—the distillers who bring Balcones to life. Risk-takers. Art-driven makers. Philosophers of whisky. We even handed the mic to the Master Distiller himself, making his voice the soul of the campaign.
Then we transformed social media from a space of mindless scrolling into a place of meaning. Through immersive, sensory-driven storytelling—like ASMR (American Single Malt Rhythms)—we built a community of adventurous tasters eager to experience whisky in a new way.
This wasn’t just a campaign. It was a story that reshaped an industry.
The core objective was to drive brand awareness and showcase high engagement with our content.
The campaign spots performed significantly above benchmarks for three key persuasion indicators: Information, Change & Desire.
- Ace Metrix Creative Testing, 2024
These above-average numbers show that our content and messaging resonated with our audience.
