Balcones Texas Rye 100 Proof

Molasses, black walnut, smoke, coffee, peat, caramel

Nose: soap Palate: pickles, dirt, leaves Finish: pickle juice This tastes like someone steeped pickle juice with a bar of soap, dumped it on the ground, and squeezed out the liquid from the dirt.

Nose of black tea. Jasmine. Floral palate. Pepper.

This is a wonderfully satisfying rye separating itself from the sea of mgp 95 and barely legal. Poured neat nose is Christmas tree, dark chocolate, brown sugar, baking spice and zesty wood leaping out of the glass. Its strong and deep but without overbearing ethanol. Palate is loaded. There's sweet with melted toffee, nougat and cocoa powder. Pinecone, vibrant rye spice and barrel tannins provide the confectionary counter. There is a straw/hay note adding a touch of dryness to the experience. Its very complex changing sip to sip morphing flavors back and forth. Finish is long with lingering malted milk balls, spicy rye, pipe tobacco and toasted oak. This is what pure rye should be offering plenty of sugar and spice. ....83/100

Apple pie, cinnamon and spice, and dark chocolate with a bit of coffee.

I agree with @PBMichiganWolverine - if tasted blind, I'm not sure I wouldn't have thought it was a mocha liqueur. A little of the rye spice seems to be there on the finish, but very chocolaty. Very interesting and a great value at $34. Update: after subsequent tastings, my rating has been revised down. Too sweet and chocolaty to be something I have a regular interest in. Have tried adding a little of this to a more conventional rye, but similar to adding peated whiskey to unpeated, it takes very little to significantly change the taste. Still worth checking out for the novelty, but I won't be replacing this when I finish.

Woodie