Balcones Texas Pot Still Bourbon

Burnt caramel, vanilla, brown sugar, maple, and sweet corn on the nose, the buttery palate is not nearly as sweet as the nose, there's some muted corn, caramel and vanilla, the medium length finish has a buttered toffe popcorn note.

Sweet, caramel and vanilla forward with a hint of apple fruit. Almost syrupy (corn syrup) when coming from other bourbons. Soft on the spice side.

Caramel smooth, leathery and buttery on the nose. Bright whiskey with hints of oak and caramel. High percentage corn mash for the taste and feel.

Soft easy drinking beginning. Nice smooth finish. Notes of vanilla. My first Texas Bourbon. Slight tang but I like it.

Nose: Walnuts, dusty corn, cherries, vanilla. Toffee, toasted honeyed cereal grains, bananas. Musty pot still funk - that creamy thing you get from Midleton, Redbreast comes to mind. Bright and shiny almost acetone note. Wet cardboard. Yeasty cinnamon rolls. Orange blossom and honeysuckle. Green veggies - bell pepper, cucumber, and celery. Palate: Cinnamon, nutmeg, mace, cumin. Tongue-drying tannic character flowing into that acetone note again. Oaked musty walnuts, cashews, and pecans. Waxy. Floral perfume. Very bright, not much low palate. Mid palate is fairly subdued and straightforward. Everything on show here is upper register. Cream cheese frosting with a bit too much confectioner's sugar and an almost lactic tang. Paper. Finish starts off with musty, lactic, funky tang. Then a bright pop from the ethanol - that metallic, acetone note shows up. Oak, char, and barrel bitter poke their head through. As the ethanol burn dies down, banana Nilla wafers take over as things coast into a simple brown sugar and vanilla tail, with notes of dill, dried basil, and celery blossoming here and there. Finish is relatively long. Other notes: My first taste of this really challenged me. My nose and palate had a really hard time dissecting this in any meaningful way. Coming back to it now, I'm finding some more complexity and am better able to identify what's going on. The overall character is still largely the same to me, but I have better appreciation for what's going on in the glass. Though I'm still not likely to put this on my short list to buy again, I'm glad I gave it another shot. I wish the palate was a little more rounded out, but I can understand what they're trying to demonstrate here.

Not bad, probably won't buy again. A little hot, short finish.