× Thanks for reading! Log in to continue. Stay logged in to skip the surveys Log in Sign up {{featured_button_text}}

The Balcones Distilling board of managers has bought out the company’s founding president, Charles “Chip” Tate, ending months of a bitter dispute over operation of the award-winning whiskey distillery.

Board members and their attorney, Jeffrey Armstrong, said details of the negotiations and settlement with Tate are confidential and could not be disclosed, but Balcones board president Greg Allen said the company bought out Tate’s 27 percent interest in the company and removed him from the board after a meeting Wednesday.

Tate also declined to release details of the settlement.

While both sides say the battle has been resolved, they still disagree on a number of issues, including whether Tate was fired. Board members say they fired Tate and removed him from the board, while Tate insists he resigned from the board and as president of the Waco-based company.

“I haven’t been removed from anything,” Tate said. “I resigned. After the court decided in my favor, I said what I have always said, and that is, ‘One of us needs to go and the other one needs to buy the other one out.’ The partnership wasn’t good and one of us needed to go.”

Tate, whose salary was $175,000 a year, said he offered to buy his partners out, but they declined.