Balcones Lineage Texas Single Malt

Very sweet and fruity. Never had a texas whiskey. Very nice.

Super fruity, oaky, rich. Wow what a great value too.

I previously reviewed this back on February 7 of 2022, but I was still fairly new to whisky then, and I now have 15 months more experience and figured it would be good to review it again. Though this is, as Scottish law defines the term, a "single malt" (it has a mash bill of 100% "malted" barley, and is the product of a single distillery), I prefer to call it "barley whisky." There is no legal definition of "single malt" in the United States, and anyway we speak American English, not Scottish English. Why not just call it barley whisky, and say that a barley whisky must have a mash bill of 51% barley, so that American distillers don't have to either conform to foreign regulations, or ignore those regulations? And "sprouted" is, in the States, a far better word than "malted," which conveys no meaning to most people. But that's just my gripe - the whisky is far above all that. It's 94 proof, has a mash bill of 100% sprouted barley (some from Texas and some from Scotland), and is old gold in the glass. A fifth cost me $41.99 at Kelly Liquors in the Mountain Run Shopping Center here in Albuquerque - and as you'll see below, I consider it worth every penny. NOSE: The nose is very dense, and at first all I got was an impression of dark mixed fruit. As I continued to nose the whisky, I began sorting things out, and the individual notes were lighter and sunnier. I found pears, mangos, plums, applesauce, an almost peaty smokiness (though this isn't a peated whisky), pecan praline ice cream, crisp juicy apples, caramel candy, vanilla extract, butter and citrus honey, and something warm and savory that I couldn't further identify. The nose on this stuff is so delicious that I have to remind myself to begin sipping. MOUTHFEEL: Smooth. TASTE: I never can find as much in the taste as I do on the nose. This is surely a defect in my palate. What I got here was golden honey, peaches, a tiny bit of oak, baked apples, brown sugar, and cinnamon. FINISH: This is a long finish, beginning with oak and apples, moving into cinnamon oak, and fading into brown sugar. SUMMARY: This is a luxurious and fruity whisky. If you're used to bourbon or rye, this will be something very different. It is similar, naturally, to Scottish "single malt" whisky, which is fruity, but with the higher proof than Scotch or Irish whisky of a similar price, and the effect of aging in the more extreme Texas climate, it's not as light as whisky from Scotland or Ireland. At three years old this is a young whisky - considerably younger than "single malt" from Scotland - but aging in Texas has made it robust and wonderful. This is one of the best whiskies I've ever had. RATING: On my hick scale, I put it at Mighty Fine, which is equal to five stars, or 100/100 or 10/10.

Flavair advent-Very dry in my mouth, unpleasantly bitter. Then some apple, toffee and grain midway through. With walnuts on the finish. Not my fav but ok.

Oak and smoke, with barnyard and fruit in the background.

Very sweet and tasty, woody, a sipper

Flaviar blind tasting from Dec 2022 (done 3/21/23) A - [ ] Lightest colored of the three, a brighter yellow - [ ] Smells like licorice, some peat, and very green aromas - [ ] Peaty, young flavors - AWFUL!