Tastes

Toasted caramel, vanilla, cornbread baked over a mesquite fire, fresh ground coffee beans, dark chocolate. It's got a salty and savory element that gives another layer of complexity. The finish goes on and on and has a lot of similarity to other Balcones whiskies. I even get a hint of the peach note that I taste especially in the Lineage, although more grilled peach than peach gummy ring. I've been running it up against some of the other barrel proof bourbons in the cabinet, and I believe this can competently keep company with other heavyweights like Stagg Jr., JDSiBBP, Elijah Craig BP, and even Garrison Brothers Cowboy. You could say this a poor man's Cowboy. I will note that right out of the bottle this was pretty hot even on the nose, but a splash of water and 15 minutes to rest did this one wonders. I am curious about the age statement on this one, as it appears to show aged at least 77 months, which seems exceptionally long for Balcones. I noticed someone else said 27 months, so I wonder if there was a misprint on my bottle. Regardless, this stuff is fabulous and I would like to find a backup for this one. Update: I did find a backup bottle which had the same batch number and date, and it was marked as aged 37 months, so I believe the first bottle was just mismarked.

Light and easy, honey, faint fruit. Fairly thin, but more flavorful than expected at 40% ABV. Finishes better than it starts. As a Christmas gift I don't mind having this, but my main problem with it is I can get Glenmorangie 10 for 20$ cheaper, and I like it better.

Enjoyable enough, but I remember liking the first release a little more. I still get the lemon drop candy, but this one seems smokier with more ash on the finish. If you can still find the first release, I'd buy it over this one. I thought it was better, and a few bucks cheaper.

I happened to know someone driving through Waco the day after this released and he was able to pick up a bottle to smuggle into Oklahoma. Somehow both sweeter and smokier than the regular Peated Single Malt, but also less brash and in your face. The regular Peated sees three years in virgin oak before two more years in ex-bourbon barrels. This one has two years in ex-bourbon barrels before three years in Sauternes casks. I thought 3 years in the Texas heat in Sauternes casks would make this cloyingly sweet, but there is a remarkable balance between the dessert wine sweetness and the smoky peat. I'm not saying this is better than the regular Peated - it's different enough that it's own experience, but it is incredible whiskey and at least on the level as the already exceptional annually released Peated Single Malt. Update: spending some more time with this and comparing it to the regular peated, I am thinking now that it doesn’t have quite the complexity and layers upon layers as the regular. I like this a lot, but I’m ranking it just below the regular peated.

Private barrel, 9 years old, 67.3% ABV. Compared to batch A121 (which is the only Barrel Proof batch I've tried), this obviously has a lot of similarity, but is slightly less smooth, less balanced. Despite being younger than the 12 year Barrel Proof, the wood seems more aggressive. I think the blenders of the Barrel Proof batches probably know what they're doing. That being said, it's more similar than different, and still good. I can imagine that there may be some of these private barrels that absolutely knock it out of the park. Definitely thumbs up, but this barrel at least doesn't give me anything more than the regular Barrel Proof batches (other than a few more proof points over the most recent batches).

51% ABV, secondary aging in Brandy barrels. I've had the regular American Prairie, which I thought was an average to slightly above average bourbon. This was 34$, so I thought worth a flier. There was also a Double Rye Barrel Select with secondary aging in Grenache barrels, which I passed on. I had a pour of this next to the MWND and the MW is definitely the superior whiskey - the balance of deep dark fruit with the herbal rye is really nice, but this is a satisfying pour on it's own, and especially so at about 40% of the cost of the MW. There is some Brandy coming through on the nose along with pear, with underlying bourbon vanilla/caramel, but the palate opens up with juicy pear before transitioning to some rye-spiced bourbony finish. The finish concludes with a little bitter note as a reminder that the underlying bourbon is fairly average, but overall I'm pretty pleased with this, and especially so at the price.

Agree with others who say this was better a few years ago. The recent bottling tastes very grassy. The older version was more similar to the current Rendezvous Rye. This isn't bad, but it's just not what it used to be.

Tasted blind at whiskey night with friends. I would've guessed it was a Balcones rye with some kind of secondary barreling finish. Seems like a decent value for 20-something bucks.