Tastes

Aroma opens with red delicious apple, pipe tobacco, wood varnish, leather, sandalwood, and caramel. There’s a significant amount of unwelcome ethanol here. (I know it’s a barrel proof but I’ve had higher proofs with less) This particular release smells closer to a souped-up Elijah Craig Small Batch which…could be better. Palate gets things moving back into the right direction with rich vanilla, Rollo candy, graham cracker pie crust, apple, date, black cherry cola, and milk chocolate. All the notes in the palate are various degrees of sweet, yet it doesn’t become cloying and I would attribute that to the overall profile not being super rich but in this case it might be a feature, not a bug. Finish comes in super quickly with ice cream sundae, cinnamon, clove, oak, and a long spicy blast of peppermint and cinnamon which goes on seemingly forever. While I appreciate long finishes, I’m not certain that these are the notes I want to linger to this extent as there is kind of a toothpaste quality to it. Mouthfeel is weighty and oily, but does have a little graininess. More challenging, less cohesive, and probably just lesser quality than any of the ECBP batches I have sampled. Does that make it a bad whisky? Not at all, and my relatively low rating of 4.0 is less “this is shit whisky” and more indicative of the quality that I am used to seeing from this brand that this one simply didn’t measure up to.

Nose is sweet, sticky, and kind of glorious; iced cinnamon roll, praline, French vanilla, toasted agave, cornbread, and a hint of wood smoke. Ethanol is low low low. Agave presence magnified as time passed. Wow, palate is wild. Caramel drizzled flan, buttered popcorn, agave, butterscotch, Bailey’s liquor, maple, and rock salt. Flavors have richness but there’s a lightness that keeps thing from getting too cloying. That said it’s not a complexity king. Finish is very long with vanilla ice cream, more butterscotch, even more caramel (this time in the form of straight up caramel syrup) black pepper, mint, roasted nut (pecan?) and a lingering oak note after everything else fades. One of the first Balcones products where the wood tastes like oak instead of mesquite. Mouthfeel is medium bodied, but smooth and silky. Slight effervescence on the finish which worked for me. Man if you love caramel, this is your jam. Bold, all over the place, and yet somehow it comes together. The corn/agave combination which makes zero sense on paper, works wonders in practice. Delicious and 100% unique which earns a few extra points in my book. At $90 I can easily justify a rebuy here. I need more hard to find Balcones expressions in my life.

A quite enjoyable nose featuring caramel flan, toasted oak, white pepper, rye crisp cracker, cherry, hazelnut, earthy cellar, and Tupelo honey. Ethanol very low given the proof. Complex palate offers creme brûlée, brown sugar, allspice, a just-shy-of-bitter oak, black pepper, white grape, hay, and vanilla. Flavors are rich and bold. Spice slightly overshadows the other notes. Finish brings citrus rind, white pepper, tobacco, clove, chili pepper, cola and nutmeg. Some spearmint after everything else fades. Finish is on the shorter side of medium, but just a minor flaw. Mouthfeel is slick and oily without any graininess which really serves this well by keeping the sharper notes in check. As a rye it’s good, but as a whiskey it borders on excellent. More like a high rye bourbon than a traditional rye but that in no way detracts from the quality. At the $109 I paid, I have zero regrets and this verges on rebuy status.

Nose is powerful and complex with cola, pepper, smoke, root beer, stewed peaches, hay, lemon rind, old books, chocolate and wet dirt. A wild yet delightful combination. That said, some nagging ethanol kept sneaking in and hampering the otherwise exceptional experience. Palate continues the boldness bringing sherry wine, tangerine, date, oatmeal, black currant, caramel, chocolate, and a floral note I can’t put my finger on (lavender? jasmine? I suck at identifying floral notes) Flavors are punchy as hell. Finish is decently long with iodine, malted milk ball, burnt rubber, charred oak, chili pepper, cinnamon, and peat moss. There’s depth here but the peat note takes over and adds a bit of a harsh element. Mouthfeel is on the lighter side of medium but decently oily which is a nice fit for the profile. Ok…there’s a lot going on here and a lot to like. But I must admit I was unaware that this contained peated malt and I am a huge peat hater. That said, its presence here is…less than awful? A bold and unique whiskey even if some elements aren’t my jam. At $70 I can say that it’s a great value for the quality in todays market. This distillery is a big win for me overall, and I will continue to buy as many expressions/releases as I can get my hands on.

Nose is quite pungent but not necessarily a good thing; while it is complex and features caramel apple, melon, vanilla, honey, and a floral note (heather?), it also brings burnt rubber/keratin, and a little too much ethanol for the proof. Not the best start. Things greatly improve on the palate with vanilla cream, honeydew melon, apricot, pear, clover honey, coconut, and milk chocolate. Flavors are on the airy side, but are nicely integrated with no one flavor dominating. Drinks a little hotter than the low proof would indicate. Finish sadly brings some of the burnt tire from the nose along with pepper, almond, apricot, smoke, tobacco, moss, and a bitter/sour oak. At least it’s on the shorter side of medium. Mouthfeel is light bodied which serves the profile well but also fairly grainy which could be better. This whiskey is kind of a bummer as I really wanted to like this more than I did. While the palate is a delight there were off notes in the nose and finish that were hard to ignore. At the $109 I paid, this a resounding NO on value/rebuy prospects, There are plenty of superior Irish whiskies to be had at this price or less in the Redbreast line and for just $10 more I could get the nearly flawless Yellow Spot. So disappointing that I immediately scratched the 16yr expression from the same distillery off my wishlist.

Nose is aromatic and complex with what I have found to be typical New Riff fruitiness (berry, apple, and lime) with vanilla creme, soft oak, basil, and a hint of nutmeg. Probably one of the only whiskeies I have sampled with literally ZERO ethanol which is wild. Palate is quite a departure with caramel, Sasparilla, green apple, vanilla bean, corn tortilla, clove, and malted milk ball. Some youth shows in the form of some sharpness in the overall profile. Finish is on the longer side of medium with fried ice cream, rye spice, toasted oat, white pepper, and oak. Mouthfeel is effervescent and slick but with a pronounced drying effect. A solid offering from New Riff. Theres a lot to like here but is a little lacking in the refinement category. At $79, I feel it’s appropriately priced for the market. Since it is not available in my area and I had to pay shipping, probably not a rebuy but most likely would be if it was local.

Gifted to me at Xmas, let’s see if this bottle can change my opinion of Dickel. Medium strength aroma is very fruity with rum soaked fruit cake, berry, light vanilla, and a distracting mineral note. Tried and failed to get much else. Ethanol is low. Palate opens with more caramel and vanilla than the nose would indicate, along with some date, fig, mandarin orange, and maple. All the notes are sweet, simple, and kind of flat. That said, the palate actually doesn’t suck. Medium length finish features light cinnamon and nutmeg and then…while I hate to be cliche I have to keep it real; where my tongue wanted oak/wood, I got goddamn Flintstone vitamins. Just…why??? Mouthfeel is light bodied and being neither creamy or grainy; compliments the flavor profile decently enough. A high point. So apparently my friend spent $85 on this. Yikes. I wish he would have told me he was getting me a bottle as I would have had him get me a bottle of 1920 or Rare Breed and saved him $30. Or Hell even a bottle of Wild Turkey 101 which I would have enjoyed more. For Dickel lovers only, which I most certainly am not.

Nose features lots of good things in the form of caramel, vanilla, golden raisin, green apple, toffee, cashew nut, and an odd but not off-putting musty book aroma. Ethanol nice and low given the proof. Not to be lazy, but the palate matches the nose REALLY well so see above. The caramel turns a little burnt Ala creme brûlée, along with some brown sugar, molasses, cake batter, and cola. It’s not the most complex thing ever, but damn the flavors are rich, punchy, and nicely integrated. Finish is a pleasant slow morph with the vanilla/caramel carrying nicely as flavors of barrel char, cracked pepper, oak cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and mint emerge. Mouthfeel is downright chewy and suitably oily but also somehow manages to be prickly especially after repeated sips in short succession. This hit a lot of the right notes for me and is probably one of the better Larceny BP releases I’ve reviewed. At 84.99, I feel it’s a solid value and I will continue buying future Larceny BP offerings at this price point for the foreseeable future.

“Pitch” restaurant pick from Pitch in Scottsdale, AZ. 133.68 proof. Nose is herbal and fruity with papaya, lemongrass, basil, pineapple, hay, lemon pepper, brown sugar, and unbuttered biscuit. There’s a nice rye grain funk that comes out as it opens up. Ethanol is nearly non-existent which is stunning given the proof. Palate is pretty explosive, opening with clover honey and green apple transitioning to sourdough bread, allspice, vanilla, pine, ginger, rye spice, and hops (!) Finish is spikey and hot with pink peppercorn, tropical fruits such as kiwi, guava, papaya, and bitter oak which brings some serious astringency. Mouthfeel is oily, but rougher and grainer than I wanted for the flavor profile and as dry as a sun bleached cow skull in the Arizona desert. Real issues here. Hmm. I wanted to like this more than I did. While I loved the fruity notes which are reminiscent of Barrell Seagrass, I ultimately found this too hot, sharp and rough to be truly enjoyable and its going to be a struggle to finish. At $80, it’s laughably far from a rebuy and I can think of literally fifty other ryes I would rather have. Disappointing.

Nose is very “Brown-Forman” with a pungent blend of Maraschino cherry, wood varnish, Sasparilla, caramel drenched flan, leather, and a wood which always smells more like mahogany than oak to me. There is some light ethanol present but at nearly 125 proof, it’s forgivable. Palate is rich and deep and matches the nose quite well but add vanilla, allspice, citrus, cocoa powder, toffee, and tobacco. Flavors very much sit in the back of the throat which does lend a hint of harshness that feels like it doesn’t need to be there. Finish is nice and long with delightful morph into rum soaked Christmas fruit cake, cola, orange zest, cinnamon, leather, and pink peppercorn. Mouthfeel is full bodied. Slight effervescence tingles the tongue, and that in combination with the proof does become slightly fatiguing after repeated sips. I find these releases to be quite good, and this release to be very consistent with the last one I have tried. Are they better than say, Elijah Craig Barrel Proof despite being nearly twice the price? I would say no, but it is high quailty. I paid $155 for this and while I can’t say I regret it, it is slightly overpriced. Will I buy the next release anyway? Probably.