Texas Whiskey Festival

What Texas Whiskey Festival does

Texas Whiskey Festival is a privately held experiential events company founded in 2018 and based in Austin, Texas. It produces the annual Texas Whiskey Festival at Star Hill Ranch, a recurring slate of regional events across Texas (Links & Drinks, Spirit of Texas Tastings, Flower Mound Smoke & Whiskey Fest, Frisco StrEATS, Houston Whiskey Social), corporate whiskey tasting engagements, limited-release collaborative products under the Tejas Collaboration Series, and a direct-to-consumer e-commerce merchandise line.

The company operates an event-driven, direct-to-consumer plus B2B services model. Consumer revenue comes from tiered ticket sales (Single Barrel premium tickets with early access, cigar pairings and special releases; Small Batch standard entry), while B2B revenue comes from productized corporate whiskey tastings starting at $1,500 per engagement. Sponsorship revenue (e.g., H-E-B for the Spirit of Texas Tasting) and merchandise sales provide supplementary streams. Technology footprint is limited to a Squarespace-hosted website, online ticketing, and an on-demand print-on-demand merchandise storefront; the company does not sell software, APIs, or platform technology.

The business is anchored by co-founder Jake Clements, a certified whiskey sommelier and World Whiskies Awards judge featured on the cover of American Whiskey Magazine. Its competitive position rests on being the only festival exclusively dedicated to Texas whiskey brands, aggregating 30+ Texas distilleries in a single venue and producing exclusive collaborative bottlings through the Tejas Collaboration Series with partners including Yellow Rose, Ranger Creek, Andalusia, and Giant Texas Distillery. The company is founder-controlled, has no disclosed outside funding, no subsidiaries, and operates exclusively within Texas.

Name

Texas Whiskey Festival

Legal name

Texas Whiskey Festival

Website

https://txwhiskeyfest.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2018

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The Texas Whiskey Festival is a privately held Austin-based event company that produces the annual Texas Whiskey Festival at Star Hill Ranch, regional tastings across Texas, corporate whiskey experiences, exclusive Tejas Collaboration releases, and branded merchandise for whiskey enthusiasts and corporate clients.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Whiskey Festival and Tasting Events

NAICS

Drinking Places (Alcoholic Beverages) (7224)

SIC

Services-Amusement & Recreation Services (7900)

akta.pro primary industry

Spirits Distillery Tours & Tastings (Whiskey, Rum, Gin, Vodka) (THAJAGAF)

akta.pro secondary industries

Food, Drink & Culinary Community Festivals (Community-Led) (MPAGAEAF), Distilleries (Tasting Rooms) (THAFALAG)

Keywords

• Whiskey festival events
• Whiskey tasting experiences
• Corporate whiskey events
• Texas distillery events
• Festival merchandise

Headquarters

HQ city

Austin

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Marketing or Sales, Personnel, Supply Chain, Others

Revenue model

1. Event Tickets: The festival generates revenue primarily through ticket sales to annual flagship events and recurring whiskey tasting events across Texas. Tickets are tiered with options like Single Barrel (premium with early access, special releases, complimentary cigar) and Small Batch (standard entry with food vouchers).
2. Merchandise Sales: E-commerce sales of branded merchandise including t-shirts, mugs, hats, and other apparel. Products are made on demand to reduce overproduction.
3. Corporate Whiskey Experiences: Turnkey corporate whiskey tasting experiences for professional settings including company events, client entertainment, retreats, and conferences. Pricing typically begins at $1,500 depending on guest count, event length, location, format, staffing, and whiskey selection.
4. Sponsorships: Corporate sponsorships from partners like H-E-B for events such as the Spirit of Texas Tasting at Plano's Texas Forever Fest.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Texas Whiskey Festival hosts an annual flagship whiskey festival and a slate of recurring whiskey tasting events across Texas, bringing together more than 30 Texas whiskey distilleries and enthusiasts for curated tastings, networking, and live entertainment. It supplements festival operations with turnkey corporate whiskey tasting experiences and an e-commerce merchandise storefront for branded apparel and accessories. The Tejas Collaboration Series issues limited-release barrel-finished whiskeys co-created with Texas distilleries.

Product overview

Texas Whiskey Festival operates as a multi-faceted event and content company centered on Texas whiskey culture. The core offering is the annual Texas Whiskey Festival at Star Hill Ranch, complemented by corporate whiskey tasting services, a growing cocktail recipe collection, and merchandise. The product portfolio includes collaborative projects (Tejas Collaborations and Festival Blends), various event formats (Links & Drinks, Smoke & Whiskey Fest, Spirit of Texas Tasting), and an e-commerce merchandise store. The company connects distilleries with enthusiasts through events, content, and exclusive product collaborations.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Tejas Collaboration Series: A collaboration between the festival and Texas distillers to create unique limited-release offerings that showcase their methods and character. Each bottling is a limited release available only through the respective distiller. Tejas is the Spanish spelling of the ancient Caddo word for friend or ally.

Products and services

• Annual Texas Whiskey Festival Flagship annual multi-day whiskey festival held at Star Hill Ranch in Austin, TX, featuring 30+ Texas whiskey distilleries, more than 100 whiskeys available for tasting, food vendors, cigar vendors, and live music. Tickets are sold in tiered formats including Single Barrel (premium with early access, special releases, and complimentary cigar) and Small Batch (standard entry with food voucher).
• Corporate Whiskey Tastings Turnkey whiskey tasting experiences for corporate events, client entertainment, retreats, conferences, holiday parties, and customer appreciation events. Includes guided tastings and come-and-go formats, with whiskey curation, hosting, education, setup, and cleanup. Pricing typically begins at $1,500 depending on guest count, event length, location, format, staffing, and whiskey selection.
• Links & Drinks Recurring golf and whiskey tasting event combining approachable golf at Harvey Penick Golf Club in Austin with Texas whiskey tastings, food, prizes, and distillery representatives.
• Flower Mound Smoke & Whiskey Fest Annual BBQ and whiskey festival featuring the Texas State BBQ Championship competition, Texas whiskey distilleries, live music, and local vendors in Flower Mound, TX.
• Spirit of Texas Tasting Whiskey tasting event presented in partnership with H-E-B and Plano Arts & Events at the Texas Forever Fest in Plano, TX, featuring Texas distilleries pouring samples at the ArtCentre of Plano.
• Frisco StrEATS Whiskey Tasting Whiskey tasting held at Frisco's food truck and music festival featuring Texas distilleries in the historic Rail District.
• Whiskey & Chocolate Tasting Event Whiskey and chocolate pairing event hosted at Andalusia Whiskey Co., priced at $39 per person.
• Festival Merchandise Store Direct-to-consumer online merchandise store featuring festival apparel including t-shirts (e.g., The Gathering Tee from $15, 7th Annual Festival T-Shirt on sale at $10 from $25), waffle beanies ($23.50), Texas State of Mind Mugs (from $12), glassware, hats, and other branded accessories. Products are made on demand.
• Tejas Collaboration Series Limited-release collaboration series between the festival and Texas distilleries featuring unique whiskey finishes and barrel-aged products. Each bottling is available only through the respective distiller. Notable releases include Irish Peated Single Malt finished in mezcal barrels, Vermouth Finished Rye with Giant Texas Distillery, Rye Whiskey Finished in Naranja Orange Wine Barrels with Ranger Creek, and the Daddy's Little Princess Barrel-Aged Cigar aged in Yellow Rose Bourbon barrels.
• Texas Whiskey Festival Blends Proprietary blended whiskeys released under the Texas Whiskey Festival brand, created through collaboration with Texas distilleries to showcase creativity and innovation in Texas whiskey-making, including special festival blends such as the 5th Texas Whiskey Festival Blend available with Single Barrel ticket holders.

Quantifiable outcome

• Featured on cover of American Whiskey Magazine
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• H-E-BcoreGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 January 2023H-E-B partnered with Plano Arts & Events to present the Spirit of Texas Tasting at Plano's Texas Forever Fest, hosted by the Texas Whiskey Festival. H-E-B serves as a sponsor for the whiskey tasting event featuring 10 Texas distilleries.
• Plano Arts & EventscoreGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 January 2023Plano Arts & Events co-presents the Spirit of Texas Tasting event with H-E-B and the Texas Whiskey Festival as part of the Texas Forever Fest in Plano, Texas.
• Star Hill RanchcoreOthersStar Hill Ranch in Austin, TX serves as the primary venue for the annual Texas Whiskey Festival. This iconic Hill Country venue hosts the flagship annual event featuring 30+ distilleries.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Bourbon & Beyond: Large-scale bourbon and music festival held in Louisville. Comparable in combining whiskey tastings with broader entertainment (live music, food), but operates at significantly larger scale and adds a Live Nation-style music festival layer.
• Whiskey Live: Whiskey tasting event series held in multiple cities featuring curated pours from distilleries worldwide. Closely comparable in core format (tasting-floor whiskey event with tiered tickets and curated discovery), though broader in geographic and distillery scope.
• Whiskey Extravaganza: Multi-city premium whiskey tasting event focused on curated, high-end pours and distillery engagement. Comparable to TWF's premium-tier positioning (Single Barrel) and educational tasting format, though it serves multiple U.S. markets rather than one state.
• WhiskeyFest: Long-running national whiskey tasting event series organized by the Whisky Advocate / M. Shanken Communications group. Closely comparable to TWF in format — multi-distillery tasting floors, tiered tickets, and curated whiskey discovery — but operates nationally rather than within a single state.
• Kentucky Bourbon Festival: Established annual bourbon festival in Bardstown, Kentucky featuring distillery tastings, collaborations, and curated experiences. Directly comparable as a state-centric spirits festival with tiered tickets, distillery showcases, and limited-release products, but operating in the more mature Kentucky bourbon category.

Broad incumbents

• Aspen Food & Wine Classic: Established premium food and beverage tasting event with a ticketed tasting floor and curated brand experiences. Overlaps with TWF in experiential consumer tastings and brand activation mechanics, but spans all beverage categories at higher price points and broader audience.
• Tales of the Cocktail: Major annual spirits industry event in New Orleans featuring tastings, seminars, and brand activations. Overlaps with TWF in spirit-tasting event production and educational components, but spans the broader cocktail/spirits industry rather than focusing exclusively on whiskey.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/txwhiskeyfest
• Facebookfacebook.com/TXWhiskeyFest
• Instagraminstagram.com/txwhiskeyfest
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/txwhiskeyfest

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Texas Whiskey Festival