Today we’d like to introduce you to Chris Seals.
Hi Chris, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
About eight years ago my dad retired. He came to me and said he wanted to start a craft whiskey distillery. I’m an economist and from a numbers perspective it sounded like a terrible idea. But I wanted to spend time with my dad – so I suggested that we “study” the idea. I figured that we would probably spend a lot of time together traveling, visiting distilleries, drinking whiskey together, and having fun – and I thought dad would probably get through his retirement crisis and then we’d “come to our senses” and decided not to do it. Instead, after we had a lot of fun doing all that, and bonding like we never had before, something unexpected happened: state laws in Texas changed, and made it more feasible to open a craft whiskey distillery — so we did! It has been the best journey ever and led us to create something really special.
Because we started with a focus on building a close relationship, we did the same in all we did. We decided we would only buy grains from our local farmers – to support their business as well as add a local flavor from our region’s white corn and locally grown Elbon rye, which offers a delicious and unique sweet-spice flavor note in the whiskey. We chose to make everything by hand, at the distillery, with the highest quality. We asked Austin’s local artists to help create a label, and local artist Marc Burkhardt painted a series of portraits of Austinites that grace the front of our bottles. In everything we do, we value and honor the people of Austin and of Texas – the people who have made us who we are.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
One of the most difficult parts of a whiskey distillery is that it usually loses money for about one to two decades. Add to that, it took 37 months for the City of Austin to approve our distillery project.
As you know, we’re big fans of Still Austin Whiskey Co.. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
Still Austin Whiskey is a grain-to-glass, authentic whiskey maker, and we were born here in the heart of South Austin. We have only one focus at Still Austin: to authentically make the best whiskey we can. That goes for the flavor, but also so much more. We support our local farmers by buying 100% of our grain from Texas farmers. We support our local Austin artists by featuring their artwork on our labels. We support our local community with a plethora of whiskey donations and last year diverted our facility to supply hand sanitizer to Baylor Scott and White, Texas largest hospital system, when they faced a deadly lack of hand sanitizer at the start of the pandemic. We are proud to do all this. But not for marketing reasons. We are proud to do this because it reflects who we are – all of us – as Texans and as Austinites.
What were you like growing up?
I was terrible at sports. Remarkably so. I was a complete nerd. But leaned toward the creative nerd with a penchant for trying to do things that created a special experience. I once turned my high school halls into an underwater seascape.
Contact Info:
- Email: info@stillaustin.como
- Website: www.stillaustin.com
- Instagram: @still_ATX
- Facebook: @StillATX
- Twitter: @still_ATX
Image Credits
Luis Malagon
