Balcones Brimstone

Nose of brown sugar, peat and flowers, palate of honey, cinnamon, smoke, and vanilla, a long smooth finish with hints of peat and cinnamon

Light smoke. Toasted oak sweetness. Excellent whiskey

N: Liquid smoke, mint, menthol, ethanol, burning charcoal, ash, pine tar, leather, salted caramel, minty toothpaste, mint flavored waxed floss, earth and pine needles, a pineapple that's been stuffed with mint leaves and is roasting (probably burning) over hot charcoal. There are also less distinct tropical fruit scents - hard to place what exactly. And then there's the birthday cake with vanilla icing. Dead ringer for it every time I nose it - sometimes up front, sometimes behind everything else, but always there. Needless to say, this is not going to be for everyone. P: Sweet corn, caramel, vanilla, cornbread with honey. Some floral, herbal, and even white tea notes. A sort of dry, mesquite smokiness lingers over everything - it reminds me of dry rub Texas barbecue. And, of course, there's the birthday cake and vanilla icing. High bitterness mid-palate. That's then mostly displaced by a burning chili pepper heat for the finish. There's also cumin, coriander, allspice, maybe some ginger, dried tomato - basically, it is a dry rub barbecue mixture, which was thrown in a smoker for half a day, obviously. (What I don't get, unfortunately, is that savory meat you put the rub on. It's all rub and no meat for me.) This is a fascination, but I don't really think it's a great whisky. It's an interesting idea and fine execution (far as I can tell). But the end result is a dram that has to really hit your personal, subjective flavor preferences just right. It will do that for some people, but it doesn't quite get there for me. You see a lot people say they have to be "in the mood" for this. I might actually be in the mood for this sometimes too, I think, but I'm likely to hit an Islay single malt instead. This is unrefined, barely restrained power where an Ardbeg or Lagavulin or Laphroaig (etc.) has similar power, but also offers subtlety, refinement, grace, balance - in short, they scratch the same itch and are more interesting (to me, at least). That is where I am more likely to spend my whisky time and money. That said, this is undeniably unique. If you like smoky whiskies, it's worth trying this to see if it hits a special place or not. It doesn't for me, but YMMV.

Smoke hits me as soon as I Open the bottle. This is a smokey True Blue in my opinion. The smoke gives it a sweeter over tone

Burnt caramel and spice, lingers very nicely

Smoky, rich

Nose - smoked meat, honey, sweet and spicy BBQ sauce, burnt brown sugar, vanilla, Mexican street corn, toffee, hickory smoke, nutmeg, clove, cornbread, apricot, burnt rubber, leather, tobacco, moderate ethanol burn. Taste - smoked meat, grilled apricot and peach, honey, hickory smoke, ash, cornbread, cherry, burnt brown sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, leather, tobacco, spicy BBQ sauce, strong oak char, moderate alcohol bite, finishing medium long with smoked meat, brown sugar, and baking spice flavors. Is this another Balcones I need to add to my permanent collection? Yep! The profile is so interesting. I agree with other reviewers who say you need to wait until the mood strikes for this one. It’s not an everyday dram, but one I absolutely want in my arsenal. The whole experience screams BBQ with all the fixin’s. BBQ meat, sauce, cornbread, and the smoker in the background, it’s all there. This is definitely worth the $50 price tag. In the past, I’ve picked up on BBQ smoked meat notes in some scotches, but nothing like this. There’s no subtlety here. If you want a BBQ whiskey, Balcones has provided a BBQ whiskey. It’s unlike anything I’ve ever tasted, in a good way. Brimstone also lacks that overly sweet, shallow profile I’ve noticed with the other corn whiskies I’ve tasted. This is just dialed in really well. Thank you to @jonwilkinson7309 for the sample. What a great experience.