San Antonio's own VP Racing Fuels, long known for high-octane racing fuel sold at gas stations, marinas, and car washes across North America, has revved into a new lane: whiskey. The company just launched the Grand Tour Collection, a lineup of spirits inspired by iconic American roadways, with its first bottle, Twisted Sisters Texas Whiskey, now available for online pre-order only.
Twisted Sisters takes its name from Ranch Roads 335, 336, and 337 in the Texas Hill Country, according to CultureMap San Antonio. The route, often called the Three Twisted Sisters, spans more than 100 miles of steep drop-offs, limestone bluffs, and technical curves northwest of San Antonio, and is famed among motorcyclists and drivers who typically begin the loop near Medina and Leakey, per Rider Magazine. VP Racing Fuels says the whiskey is meant to reflect “the bold character, scenic beauty, and enduring spirit of a Texas adventure route.”
The first release comes in at 101 proof, or 50.5% ABV, in 750mL bottles with notes of toasted oak, honey, molasses, and a smoky finish, and only 5,000 hand-numbered bottles were made for the initial run. VP Racing Spirits calls Twisted Sisters the first of what's envisioned as a family of seven destination-inspired spirits, with future releases including Tail of the Dragon Tennessee Whiskey, tied to U.S. Route 129 through the Appalachian Mountains, and Bucktail Trail Rye Whiskey, named for Pennsylvania's historic Route 120. Down the road, the brand also plans to expand beyond whiskey into categories like La Rumorosa Tequila and Devil's Racecourse Rum.
A CEO's Vision for the Road-Trip Spirits Brand
Alan Cerwick, who acquired full ownership of VP Racing Fuels in 2016 after previously serving as VP of Wholesale Operations at Valero, said the Grand Tour Collection “reimagines how people connect with a spirit.” He added that “every bottle begins with a destination, a place with a story, a history, and a reason to be explored,” per the company's messaging cited by CultureMap. Under Cerwick's leadership, VP Racing Fuels has grown to more than 300 employees and has a retail branding program across North America.
Buyers looking for perks beyond the bottle can join VP Racing's Founders Club, which offers priority access to spirit releases, news, and merchandise, plus a 15-percent discount on VP Racing fuels — though that fuel discount requires owning a high-performance or vintage vehicle.
An Old Brewery Site Gets a New Life as a Distillery
While the Grand Tour spirits are debuting online, VP Racing Fuels has also filed plans with the city to convert the former Freetail Brewing Co. site at 2000 S. Presa St. into a planned distillery. San Antonio City Council approved the request in early September 2026, clearing the way for the company to extend the building's previous microbrewery operations to allow distilling.
The 1.82-acre South Side property had operated as a brewery for roughly a decade before Freetail Brewing Co. ended its statewide retail store distribution in November 2024 and quietly shut down its Southtown brewhouse and taproom, according to the San Antonio Express-News. CultureMap reports the taproom closure came in October 2025, leaving Freetail with a single remaining local location. Hoodline previously highlighted the Southtown brewhouse as a budget-friendly brewery pick and noted its role as a neighborhood fixture in Roosevelt Park.
Southtown Neighbors Weigh In on Noise and Traffic
VP Racing's zoning application for the 28,628-square-foot site proposed uses well beyond distilling, including warehousing, t-shirt screen printing, enclosed engine dynamometer test cells, and evaluation of distillery by-products for renewable fuels, according to reporting from San Antonio Report. More than 40 residents turned out for a Roosevelt Park Neighborhood Association town hall in June 2026, where VP Racing executives presented the rezoning proposal and fielded questions about noise, traffic, and engine testing safety.
The company assured city planners that all activities at the site would be conducted indoors and that the distillery would not generate traffic exceeding levels previously associated with the property as a restaurant and brewery. The existing zoning already allows machine shop and warehouse uses at the site, per CultureMap's report. Whether an on-site public tasting room will eventually open at the South Presa Street location remains unclear.
A San Antonio Distiller Joins the Fold
To actually produce the spirits, an affiliate of VP Racing on September 23, 2026 acquired Alamo Premium Distillery, Inc. Alamo was granted the exclusive license to produce the VP Racing Spirits portfolio and will handle its production, bottling, packaging, product development, and commercialization while continuing its third-party contract distilling business, according to VP Racing Fuels. The move lets the company begin bottling immediately rather than waiting on the South Presa Street facility to come online.
Alamo Premium Distillery's path to the deal included a stop in bankruptcy court: the company filed for Chapter 11 Subchapter V protection in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Texas in November 2024, according to records reviewed on PacerMonitor. VP Racing Fuels itself traces back to 1975, when drag racer Steve Burns began blending custom high-octane fuels in his parents' garage under the C12 formula, according to Roadracing World. Five decades later, the San Antonio-based company is betting that the same brand built on speed and horsepower can find a second life on the shelf, one destination-inspired bottle at a time.
