Tastes

Nose: getting flan, rice pudding, oak, citrus peel, and a hint of ethanol. Palate: Holy liquid Snickers, Batman! It’s all there; caramel, chocolate, and nuts. Very rich and sweet. Finish is the weakest part as it’s mostly just a continuation of the palate outside of a small baking spice bloom and a hint of oak after the other flavors have faded. Finish is on the short side of medium. Mouthfeel is thick and chewy which works perfectly with the flavor profile. Overall this is very enjoyable if you are a fan of rich, sweet bourbons. Of note is that while it is a “wheater”, that fact is nearly indistinguishable; there’s literally nothing here that screams “wheated bourbon” At $54 and 100 proof, it is neither under or overpriced. I have now tried all three readily available Wilderness Trail expressions and so far all have been superior. This distillery knows what it’s doing, and I look forward to the day I am sipping on a WIlderness Trail 10 year.

Total Wine and More pick, Tempe Arizona. Barrel # 27886. 56.9% ABV, 5 year age statement. On the nose getting a full gamut of barrel spices; cinnamon, allspice, clove, ginger, and nutmeg. A hint of tamarind, nut, and vanilla underneath, but make no mistake; spicy aromas steal the show. Yeah, there’s some ethanol if you jam your nose in the glass but easily forgivable given the 113 proof. Palate opens with unsalted peanut and buttered popcorn, followed by some standard vanilla/caramel notes and then leading into the big baking spice bloom suggested in the nose. Just read the spice list above again because it’s all there in the finish, which is on the longer side of medium. Some prickly heat makes the proof known, but given the flavor profile it’s not detriment at all. Mouthfeel is full and chewy. A real plus. While I found the standard 99 proof “non store pick” 5 year SAOS to be a little lacking, this one hit the right notes with a richer, fuller experience on every level. It has some similarities to Booker’s (minus some complexity and refinement) As far as value goes, many times the refrain is “this is good but maybe not a rebuy given the price”, whereas this one is pleasantly the opposite; a 113 proof bourbon with no flaws for $42? Clearly rebuy worthy as normally anything of this quality and proof is north of $50.

Scored at Costco for a nicely discounted price of $47. Nose brings toasted oak, juniper, ginseng, butter, candied almond, and citrus peel. Some singe-y ethanol if you get too close. Palate opens with sweetbread, molasses, and currant, followed by Bermuda grass, anise, ginger, mint, and lime the mid-palate. A nice balance of herbal, spicy, and sweet flavors. Tons of cracked pepper and dry oak in the finish, which is of medium length. Grainy, sharp mouthfeel and suuuuuper dry. Normally mouthfeel isn’t a big thing, but this would be greatly improved with a little softness; the graininess when combined with the pepper and oak comes off as a little harsh for no good reason. An interesting take; closer to a high rye bourbon than a rye. Solid, but a few flaws ultimately keep it from greatness. Good for the discount price I paid, but not sure I’d recommend at the normal pricing of $62 in my area.

On the nose getting caramel, nuts (peanut and cashew), prune, an odd unappealing varnish note and ethanol. There’s a good bit of old gym shoe and moldy basement in there as well. Wholly unpleasant. Palate opens with basically a musty, spoiled corn note and vanilla, followed by...absolutely nothing. I’m not kidding; this thing has literally no mid-palate at all. And when the opening note sucks mightily, that is NOT good. Finish is short, with the varnish in the nose making an appearance along with some cinnamon and toasted nut. It’s by far the best thing about this bourbon, but still not “good”, and not nearly enough to save it. Mouthfeel is watery. Man, this shit is just odd. Musty, funky, and weird as hell, this is a huge miss for me. Thank god it was only an airplane bottle I paid $10 for. A full size bottle would literally be a drain pour. Considering a 750ml is normally $45 and what you can get for that price? Oh HELL no. Buy at your peril. Now to get something to wash my mouth out...

Nose has “ice cream sundae” with equal parts caramel, hot fudge, and butterscotch topping, along with raisin, smoke, and a wood that smells nothing like oak. Aroma is definitely good and strong. Palate opens with the sundae notes promised in the nose, and then transitioning to a big sweet creamed corn note in the mid-palate. Not as much fruit as the nose would indicate. Flavors are bold and punchy, but not a ton of complexity; lots of varying notes of sweet. Finish is medium length with leather, tobacco, bitter dark chocolate and wood, but it tastes like this was aged in mesquite instead of oak, an effect which gives the whole thing a smokey undercurrent. Mouthfeel is sharp and grainy; it’s got a ethanol bite alright, but it’s more from how the alcohol sits on the tongue than from the flavor of the whiskey if that makes sense. A solid and interesting whiskey. After sampling a few offerings, I generally like what Balcones has going on. At $50, this is “decent” value but not much more. It suffers from a bit of a simplistic flavor profile and an overly sharp finish, so hard to give it more than a 3.75, but I wanted to. Maybe would buy again in the future, but would have to be in the mood.

So not being a fan of regular Larceny, I approached this with trepidation. But after everyone telling me it was great I decided to take the plunge. Tons of peanut on the nose. A decent amount of smoky barrel char as well. This is what I would imagine a peanut butter factory would smell like. Add light caramel drizzle, date, fig, and toasted coconut in there as well. If you smelled this blind, you would never guess in a million years that this was 123 proof; the alcohol is so well attenuated. Ok, so this is NOTHING like standard 92 proof Larceny. It’s like they’re not even related. Straight up peanut butter on the palate with the rest of the flavors likewise precisely matching the nose so as to not be repetitive just look above; they are all there. Nice richness and depth to the flavors. Long warm finish in which the flavor doesn’t really change so much as it just builds some heat. Since I do like the palate, the lack of evolution in the finish is a feature, not a bug. Mouthfeel is so oily the effect is a little like drinking canola oil. Lots of similarities between this and the recent 122 proof Elijah Craig BP with Larceny BP being a little less complex. That said, I dig this a lot. (But I am a sucker for sweet, nutty bourbons) At $60, I hella overpaid but it’s pretty scarce in my area and after trying it I’m not even mad. Yeah, I will be looking to try the B520 if I can find one for sure.

Pretty mild aroma of honey, hay, flan, citrus, pepper, and a little ethanol. Palate features honey, creme caramel, butterscotch, cereal grains, orange peel, and some barrel spices in the mid palate. Hint of char as well. Rye spice, toasted grain, and mint in the short finish. Mouthfeel is fuller than expected given the proof and flavor profile. This bourbon/rye hybrid comes together pretty well, highlighting some of the best elements of both. I particularly liked the toasty grain flavors. It’s just a little softer than I usually prefer my whiskeys. At $46, I’m going to have to say there just isn’t enough punch or richness here to justify a rebuy.

Scored a bottle of this at Walmart of all places for $75 after seeing it around town for $100+. Let’s see what all the fuss is abou...Whoa. Wow. I’m going to combine the nose and palate here because this is literally liquid Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal in a bottle! Not much else going on except some vanilla and maybe a little bit of maple along with a hint of the MGP rye profile in the finish, but you have to dig for it. That’s it. Hard to believe you are even drinking a 100 proof whiskey because this drinks more like a flavored liqueur. Mouthfeel is a little thinner than I’d like for such a rich sweet flavor profile, but it’s a minor gripe. I have to be honest, I don’t even mind the lack of complexity when the flavor you do get is this good. I wavered between a 4.5 and a 4.75 and then I remembered most are going to have to pay $100 for it so went with the 4.5. Even at that price I’d say buy it if you can get your hands on it for a totally unique experience.

I was expecting the signature JD banana note in the nose but getting something else entirely; cherry cola, barrel char, pistachio nut, and corn dust. Overall the aroma is very mild. On the palate, take those exact same notes from the nose and add vanilla which actually is not a bad thing because they are all pretty good notes and there is some decent richness here. Rounded flavor with no rough edges. Finish is short, featuring cinnamon and barrel spices with an extra sprinkle of charcoal. Not very original; feels like I’ve tasted this profile or very close to it many times before. Mouthfeel is decently full and not dry at all. I was pleasantly surprised at this JD offering; make no mistake folks, this is VERY different from the “Old No. 7” of so many drunken teenage years and “jack and cokes”. This is actual sipping whiskey. It does suffer from a lack of complexity, simple flavor profile, and short finish, but...it’s alright. Now on the 800lb elephant in the room; the price. This is CRAZY at $43. CRAZY. (Thank god I only paid $5 for an airplane bottle) I hate to harp on price, but I have to because this is $20-25 stuff, tops. So what would normally get a 3.75 if properly priced gets bumped all the way down to a 3.25. Guess we know why this is always available on every shelf in the country.

Finally available in my area, I eagerly snatched up a bottle to sample. Nose is very mild; some fruit flavored bubblegum, a light savory note of melted butter, and white pepper are pretty much all I’m getting. Zero and I mean ZERO ethanol fumes, though. On the palate opens with vanilla and shortbread cookie, transitioning into some orange peel, banana, and burnt caramel in the mid-palate. Mouthfeel is soft and silky. Finish takes a downturn with baker’s chocolate (good) and bitter tannic oak (bad) Finishes hotter than it should for low proof. Finish is medium length, but because of the astringency you wish it was actually shorter. So, not the first time I haven’t cared for a younger, lower proof wheater although maybe not 100% fair as this is a “wheat whiskey” not a wheated bourbon. At $36 I don’t feel ripped off, but I also know there’s a hell of lot better offerings out there for the price point. A disappointment.