Balcones Peated Texas Single Malt Whisky

Nose - acrid peat, toasted barley, toffee, ash, burnt chocolate chip cookie, orange zest, sunscreen, peach, smoked meat, vanilla, apricot, fig, plum, brown sugar, rich oak, brown butter, mint, cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, vegetal and herbal notes, walnut, moderate to high ethanol burn. Taste - juicy peach, apricot, seared peat, barley sugar, fig, apple, plum, salted caramel, vanilla, nutmeg, allspice, dark chocolate, orange zest, tannic oak, sweet floral notes, spearmint, cashew butter, toasted marshmallow, moderate to high alcohol bite, finishing long with sweet stone fruit, smoked barley, baking spice, and chocolate flavors. This is stunning whiskey. Yes, it’s young. It’s hot. It’s imperfect. But it’s absolutely outstanding. Of course, I love this Texas whiskey profile, so I understand why others may give this a low rating and call it overproofed, underaged, and overoaked. It’s probably all of those things, but it just burns so good. I’m not going to comment further on the nose and palate, because I just want to enjoy the rest of the dram. But it’s complex. There’s a lot going on, and it’s all fantastic. Balcones is crushing it, and I’m buying what they’re selling. A gigantic thank you to @pkingmartin for introducing me to this whiskey and gifting me my first bottle. I bought another, and I might even buy a third.

Super sweet with melon notes. Maybe pineapple as well. Nice summer dram but couldn’t drink too often due to sweetnesss.

I’m not one for pairing food with whisky, but this smoky American malt goes great with July 4th brisket. There’s a minty aroma to the peat and a thick chocolate flavor in the mouth. Hope everyone’s Independence Day pour was as good as this. Thanks for sharing @pkingmartin

This is Peat20-1. Like standing next to a Hill Country Texas BBQ pit when they open it up to cut off your pound of brisket. Nose: Smokey, more BBQ smoke than Scottish peat. Taste: is more smoke and molasses based BBQ sauce, butterscotch. finish is sweet, then dries to more smoke. It's pricey but great if you like smokey whiskey. Even more smokey than Brimstone, not as peppery. Didn't think you could get more smokey than Brimstone but this is it. Makes Octomore seems tame...

The musky smoke and sweet molasses was strong. And rich body, the fruitiness with the bite was delicious. Didn’t feel the 62.4% cask strength too much. Goes down without too much trouble. But after 3 pours you feel the strength in your face. I liked it a lot more the 2nd time I tried it. The musky smoke is heavy on the nose so enjoy a mint after the dram if you are going to kiss a dame.

Good peat on the nose with alcohol, would have guessed it was a cask strength islay in Sherry cask if it was blinded by nose and appearance. Not overly smoky like the islays but it's there with a balcones malt finish, it's pretty loud for sure with the initial smoke then the high abv malt flavor, good and interesting

Really great whiskey. All the things I love about Balcones, plus wonderful peat. It's not a peat bomb, but it's there, and it feels well-integrated into the experience, not just an afterthought or gimmick. First taste was neat and I found it to be quite hot. It takes a fair amount of water well without losing anything for me. I appreciate the high proof and that I can add some water to stretch it out a little, but I'd also like to see a lower proof, cheaper peated single malt (like Lineage is to the regular single malt).