Review #: 101
Description: Balcones Texas Single Malt finished in Rum Barrels
Spirit: American Single Malt
Background: Balcones is a distillery in Texas that has been gaining traction in the bourbon world, but they are also exploring the single malt whisky and rum market. Here they have their single malt whiskey that was aged in their rum casks after several uses before bottling at cask strength. This was sampled blind and my notes submitted to my friend that supplied it before revealing the contents, so keep that in mind.
Distillery – Balcones
Bottler – Balcones
Brand – Balcones
Selection – N/A
ABV – 55%
Age – 32 Months
Nose – Super fruity, candied cherries, apple, touch of cinnamon in the back, strawberry jam, grape
Taste – Strawberry, vanilla, white grape juice
Finish – Nice and long, sweet fruits and oak spice
Guess: France, Grape Brandy, 14-18 Years, ex-bourbon, 100-109 proof, pot-still
Score: 7
Would I buy a bottle? Probably not
Thoughts: Well, I had some near correct guesses. Definitely got a lot of the rum influence. For as much as texas whisky gets flak, I do admit this was pretty tasty. It’s cool to see them doing something different with malt and rum and finding some success with it. But I think this has a price tag around $80 or so, and even if I had access to it I don’t think I would pay that much for it.