Tastes

I have read magnificent reviews of this here and on many sites so was very eager to try. My bottle cost about $130 from Total wine. Great packaging and bottle presentation. Poured neat, nose brings that familiar Turkey dusty spice only now its wrapped in a velvety blanket of rich aged sherry. We're talking library top shelf dust bunny along with pile of old saddles, museum hallway, vintage newspapers and seasoned split wood pile alongside wine soaked linens. Palate is dense and full with heavy dark fruits , caramels, leather and spices. Barrel char and white pepper announce to balance sweetness and provide character. Finish is long drying barrel oak and leather with the sherried fruits, dusty spice and some burnt caramel riding shotgun. This is a special whiskey, that cannot be denied. For $130 it better be. I personally find the white pepper just a bit too much for super elite rating. I do appreciate the quality and deep succulent aged flavors enough for A level ranking but honestly would not repurchase at price point.......91/100.....$80-90 im in

12 and 15 down now to the 18 yr. Poured neat, on the nose the sherried wood becomes more pungent, the family fruits ripen and the malt thickens. Everything has more depth and balance. Palate brings powerful flavor delivery of sherry malt, sweet wood, dark fruit notes and wispy coffee. Finishes with oaky fade and malt with trailing fruit notes. More complexity and heat than 15. Drinks like a 100+proof bourbon with the powerhouse flavor delivery but carries heat of 90pf. This is $100+ scotch and should be excellent and it is......93/100......... These higher priced/ longer aged single malts are where the tables turn on bourbon. If aged so long most bourbon would be over oaked and the balance would be all off. These damn scotches just get better and better, quite an expensive rabbit hole. The value equation will never be equal but its like comparing a Camaro or Mustang to a Porsche or Maserati. Its personal priority and preference combined with cost and desire. To each their own in the land of whiskey

Hunting this for a good while. Found it at Specs for $59.99 jumped on it. Batch B520 127.3 pf non chill filtered. Poured neat(splash opens it a lot) nose is fragrant polished oak, real maple syrup with plenty of brown sugar and baking spice as well. Breath it in the ethanol is in check. Let it rest and that sweet dill rye note sneaks in. Palate is creamy rich assault of deep dark caramel, salted cashew and macadamia, milk chocolate, heavily toasted barrel with a flash of red delicious apple. Baking spice and oiled leather round it out. We're talking that wonderful super dense flavor saturation you only get with high proof bourbon. It coats and permeates all your taste receptors. Finish is next week with sweet smoky caramel, cocoa, light fruit, spice and toasted oak. Overall impression of high octane spicy chocolate turtles. This is rock star bourbon that is an immediate purchase if you see it. I like it more than Stagg Jr and will need to run it against OF1920 and Bookers but I think the 12 yr age statement gives it the edge.....95/100..........very well might be best bourbon ive had to date. Plus if you're proof shy this takes water better than anything I can remember

This is nice solid nas scotch. The rum finish works well to complement what is basically Founders Reserve. Poured neat, nose is bursting with ripe fruits. Tropical flair with banana, coconut and papaya. Light spice and barrel but fleeting. Palate is said fruits combined with barley , some vanilla from the bourbon barrel and Glenlivet skunky coffee bean. Its really enjoyable for my tastes. Not great depth yet still full of flavor. Finishes out with drying tannins offsetting the lingering fruity overtones. Barley sugars the last to let go. This hits the spot for my scotch sweet tooth and I would actually buy this again which is more than I can say for the rest of the GL line.......86/100......little bonus for value. This destroys the Grangestone rum finish but The Balvenie is superior

I used to be an Irish guy when I first started with whiskey. Easy and smooth was the deal. I have since progressed to high proof bourbons, heavily peated scotch and robust rye. Irish has gone from # 1 to 4 in the whiskey canon( dont talk to me about Canadian its a distant #5) I have not ventured into the international pool(other than Bains corn)as of yet. My point is nowadays there really isnt much Irish Im interested in. I do like pot stilled such as the wonderful Redbreast(need to try Greenspot). The standard blends are fouled with grain alcohol content imo. There are a few decent ones but pretty lame overall. The sweet spot seems to be blends with a high pot still content. Writers Tears was excellent. Irishman Founders Reserve very good. All this lecturing leads me to Black Barrel. It has a high pot still content which washes away any grain drawback concerns. This is real solid Irish . Poured neat, nose is mild and gentle. Pastry dough, light toasted wood, hay bale, malt and that vanilla/spice custard note Jameson is known for. Grain alcohol is not interfering as in the standard release. Palate is creamy pot still texture with clarified butter, spiced vanilla pudding skins, whispy smoke and dash of wintergreen freshness. A hint of grain tries to sneak in but is held at bay. Its simple, sweet and enjoyable. The charred oak is lurking back there but not as prominent as advertised. Finishes clean with more vanilla and malt drying to barrel oak with mild char. The pot still elevates this blend and I even think the grain used is of a high quality. I waited a long time to try this as I felt Jameson was overrated and the regular blend just average at best. That was a mistake. This is rotation worthy imo and while not thought provoking its just damn good Irish. Call it comfort whiskey..........87/100.... very pleased especially at price paid of $31.99

Alright so Ive had the standard 12 , the 14 cognac and now the 15 French oak. They are all cut from the same cloth and share similar tasting notes. This 15 however adds a real nice aged leather note not present anywhere else. Overall its deeper flavor and carries some weight. Easily surpasses the 12 and 14 cognac but I prefer the Glenfiddich 15 over this. Still a good(not great ) single malt.......84/100......no I would not purchase a full bottle( just not enough going on) I think Glenlivet is really shooting for smooth fruity malts without anything to turn off a beginner.

I am a huge fan of Balcones ,especially their single malts. The standard single malt is very good. The peated is absolutely fabulous and the Lineage is most likely my top vfm favorite period. Thus I am surprised this didnt completely work for me. It does have the trademark apricot/peachy notes and pot stilled character with some complexity. I just find it too hot. Now I love barrel proof whiskey so its not that I have issues with proof. Here the alcohol is always there reminding you its hot plus adding a touch of bitter astringency. Its detracting from the wonderful Balcones flavors that shine elsewhere. I mean the peated is higher proof but has none of these drawbacks. The lineage shares a lot of the tasting notes but is rounder and fuller at less than half the price. It isnt a total washout there is enough here to warrant a decent score but the price is untenable for repurchase imo. Maybe I got a bad bottle but that just sounds like a bullshit excuse we use when disappointed......80/100.......its good but I expected a 4 star+ whiskey

Ok so its time for some realignment. This is very good wheated bourbon. It is NOT the holy grail it has become. Yeah Im thrilled I was able to get this bottle through my "connection" for $65/liter and probably could have resold for much more but that is not who I am. I am a lover/drinker of whiskey/whisky not a collector. This has the Weller traits of smoky charred cotton candy with baking spice laced barrel. Touch of floral and cognac notes all found throughout the line. This is however much more refined and succinct. All rough edges have been polished off and there is a rich sweet smoothness with buttery oak finish. Overall a delicious bourbon that is severely overrated/overpriced just like Blantons. These BT whiskies are getting out of hand. They are really good and sometimes great but the cult status has pretty much ruined it for us all. If you somehow find this for retail sure buy it but the secondary market can keep it as far as Im concerned. I prefer bourbon with some rye anyway. Im not gonna ding this for all my rantings instead will score based on laurels. Its the best of the Weller line and in a vacuum an excellent wheated bourbon.....90/100

I probably got my hopes up on this one for a diamond in the rough. Well its kinda got the rough part down. Im not gonna slam on this scotch too bad cause it is what it is....a blend. This means there will be some grain influence to a certain degree which will ultimately determine how good it is. This starts out nice and tastes decent( imo this is very similar to Famous Grouse- see review if you want notes) but the problem is the grain kicks in too frequently and pretty much kills the score. Its not bad but its not good. I paid a low price of $16 but would absolutely not re-purchase. Im being a bit harsh as compared to other bottom dwellers this is good but I got sucked in by the 12yr age statement. Alas a case of you get what you pay for.........68/100 ....drinkable, mixable but not recommended unless you are impervious to the grain twang

Well I certainly am a Balcones fan. Their single malt line is among my favorites. This is the corn line which I have not tried yet. I was looking forward to this as I am a smoke disciple. Poured neat, nose is packed tight which a drop opens up. Is there smoke....hell yeah there's smoke, but its nothing like peat smoke. This is pure Texas BBQ. Its all brisket ends with a side of cream corn, deeper in there is leather, maple and burnt caramel. I can probably pull out more but I wanna taste its so enticing. Mouthfeel is thick, pot stilled and non chill filtered makes a difference. Palate is pit smoked saturation. Beef brisket and ribs, grilled corn and zucchini glazed with caramelized brown sugars surrounded in charred oak. Finishes long with the smoke and char overtaking the sweet sugars and wood. This is seriously like whiskey put in a BBQ smoker, just permeating the smoke into its essence. They could have partnered with Blacks here in Texas its so endemic. Im guessing this will be polarizing for some. I find it wonderful as I imagine many will but there will be opposition........83/100......Im starting to think I could be stocked with nothing but Balcones whiskies and be just fine