Balcones Texas High Rye Bourbon

Had many of the classic Balcones flavors that I love, but overall was way too hot and spicy to be enjoyable

Nose is full of brown sugar, molasses, caramel, waffle, mesquite, burnt sugars, nutmeg, and barrel char. Ethanol nice and low. Palate matches the nose quite well with additions of creme brûlée, raisin, dark chocolate, tea leaf, burnt marshmallow, and butterscotch. Flavors are dense and rich, almost “gooey” if you will. Finish brings heat and spice in the form of jalapeño pepper, ginger, rye, astringent oak, and unattenuated alcohol but after that it magically turns sweet again with caramel drizzled vanilla ice cream, which I found to be absolutely divine. And that note LASTS. Mouthfeel is full bodied and slick with a hint of effervescence which also worked for me. Very much a densely sweet and sharply spicy affair, there is a lot to like here if that’s your jam. A wild ride for sure, but a rewarding one if you’re willing to strap in. The finish absolutely slayed me. At around $70, it meets rebuy status easily, although I will say that like many Balcones products, I have to be “in the mood” because they are a little more challenging than the average dram, but overall one of the better expressions from this distillery.

Bold and in your face. Baking spices, sweet, tart, vanilla, with pepper and a waxy finish.

Looks like a 2021 batch. Clocks in at 64.4%. N: Creamed corn, but creamed in milk chocolate, yeah. Shaving soap, ethanol, rye grain, chocolate cereal grain, cleaning supplies, some fresh rye herbs. Some citrus and other fruit notes seem to land as your nose adjusts. P: Earthy and herbal with milk chocolate breaking through. Sweet corn, cooked beef, charred oak, young rye cereal grain notes, boozy. F: Hot, earthy, some chocolate, some rye, some cinnamon, some oak, some mint. One of the least impressive Balcones bottles I've had, and I think the fact it's Balcones is hurting the score a bit - I keep asking myself if I didn't have Balcones expectations here, would I rate it differently? So far, it's a soft no, leaning toward maybe. I don't think it'd be fair to rate it different, but it's so hard to separate expectations from the review. Anyway, I digress. The biggest issue I have with this is just that it tastes too much like a young rye - green with undeveloped herbal notes, and some dried vegetation. It's the kind of rye I'm not so fond of. It's just underwhelming. And too hot - it might improve with water, but I'm just not in the water habit with the exception of an ice cube every once in a while. Can't recall if I did that with this bottle - probably, and it probably wasn't very memorable. I would pass on this in the future. ____________ Please come join an unofficial Distiller community on Discord (now one whole year old!): https://discord.gg/VSmCvzAQfH. We chat spirits (and other things) in real time while being a great resource to each other for recommendations, finding deals, and generally enjoying the journey together. (If the link is expired (it shouldn't be), please post a comment and I will gladly provide a new one.)

Rating: 18/23 Balcones Rye has a weird profile that is interesting but very challenging. I'm curious to see how much of that makes it in here. N: Maple syrup, baking spices, blue corn mustiness (I haven't actually checked whether there's blue corn in this, but that's what it smells like). There is a tartness with orange peel and tangerine that smells decadent paired with the maple syrup. This is actually quite a complex and balanced nose, with a seeming maturity. I'm kind of surprised. As it goes on, I do get some of that rye funk I recall, with vegetal notes leading mint and bitter herbs, along with faint jalapeño. It works well here. P: Spicy! This burns. Those rye flavors hit first, with vegetal funk, black pepper, and jalapeño. Substantial grade A maple syrup is fit in there too and some musty blue corn sweetness pulls itself out of it. I get some vanilla and cinnamon as well. There is a bit of a bitter vegetal funk here that I don't really like though. The tangerine and orange peel come out nicely though. If it weren't for the intense burn and weird bitter vegetal flavor, this would be a much better palate. A drop of water makes this more bitter and funky, unfortunately, rally bringing out some of that weirdness I remember from the rye. There's a big charcoal flavor now that I'm not a fan of. I'm also getting a hint of a cherry cordial. Oh, and that peppermint from the nose is here too. F: This tends toward the bitter side, with mint, char, and some herbal spices mostly coming through. As I exhale, I get some of that musty corn. And then some of that rye vegetal funk and jalapeño come out. - Conclusion - There's a wonderful core here, which I think is the corn profile. Then there's the rye funk, which is interesting, but I really don't enjoy most of. It's quite complex though, despite the hefty burn. It doesn't burn nearly as much as cask strength Ry3 (9/23) does though, and it tastes substantially better too. The burn here is pretty reasonable, considering the proof. Despite all of the weirdness here, this is still a tasty and decadent dram. It easily beats my cask strength single barrel Garrison Brothers bottling (15/23). The hedonism and complexity here are just clearly superior. On the other hand, 1792 Full Proof (19/23) beats this by about as much. I'm thinking this is a 17 or 18. Old Forester 1920 (18/23) is actually pretty similar in quality to this. I was expecting to go with a 17, but I think this is an 18. It is quite challenging though. Oh! I just now realized that a lot of that char is dark roast coffee. It's a bit too dark for me, but I still like it better than just plain char by a large margin. For one final comparison, I have Wild Turkey Rare Breed 116.8 (18-19/23). It's pretty close to this, actually. I don't think that this is a 17 and could now even believe a 19. I'm sticking with an 18. Thank you for the sample @soonershrink ! This one was definitely a bit challenging, but it grew on me and I was a fan by the end.

If you enjoy the Balcones rye whiskey this will work for you. Plenty of the chocolate and baking spice but rounded with corn sweet notes. If you are looking for Buffalo Trace alternatives move on. Its solid enough on its own but shit man if you like this profile just get the rye and go all in. This is a compromise and not one you need to make. Its good enough as a stand alone offering I suppose but when you realize what Balcones has in its arsenal and factor price its all over........77/100.....thanks to sooner for the sample

The nose starts with a punchy mix of earthy dark chocolate, burnt caraway seeds and butterscotch pudding then a jalapeño vegetal spice followed by fruits of dehydrated figs, sautéed apples and orange zest that transitions to spearmint, cloves and fresh cut pine with high ethanol burn. The taste is a viscous mouthfeel starting with a high bitter, sour and peppery spice that slowly fades to a dark chocolate cherry mocha and charred pumpernickel bread with whipped honey butter followed by fruits of dehydrated figs, sour apple candy and orange zest that transitions to spearmint, cloves and over-brewed black tea with high ethanol burn. The finish is medium length with dark chocolate cherry cordial, espresso, charred jalapeños, candy apple and campfire ash. This is an interesting one from Balcones that the rye is front and center with a rich bourbon base, but the balance is off with an overwhelming bitterness and some spicy vegetal notes that I’m not particularly enjoying. At $60+, I don’t think I’d be a buyer of this one and would rather opt for their Blue Corn Bourbon. Thanks @soonershrink for providing the generous sample of this one.

I found the mash bill as 55% Blue Corn, 32% Texas Rye, 7% Specialty Ryes and 6% Golden Promise Malted Barley. I'm guessing the "specialty rye" is the chocolate malted, as there's a lot of similarity to the regular release rye with the chocolate note standing out. Unfortunately, it also seems to come with the same funky note that doesn't really work for me. Vanilla, milk chocolate, roasted jalapeno, and maybe a wet grassy funk. I like this better than the regular release rye from Balcones, but not by a lot. Was expecting something more similar to the Blue Corn Bourbon, which is especially tasty. This won't be a rebuy from me. Will set my sights next on trying to track down their Wheated Bourbon. Update: I don't know if my palate is off tonight or if this has improved substantially. I'm not getting the vegetal pepper and off-note funk now, but more a chocolatey bourbon that I had hoped for when I bought this, and I'm digging it more now. We'll see if this is a palate issue, but this may be getting a bump in stars. Update 2: It's definitely better. The funky jalapeno/green pepper note isn't completely gone, but the chocolate stands out more and the funk seems diminished. Bumping a quarter point.