Lone Elm Single Barrel Texas Straight Wheat Whiskey

I love this whiskey! I get a chocolate note in the middle that lingers a little while...

Some great chocolate notes!

Had to wait a long while for this to open up Nose: paint thinner, hint of chocolate Palate: chocolate Finsih: big oak, rye spice

Rating: 19/23 I've never had a wheat whiskey before. Can you believe that? And I prefer wheat vodka. There aren't many wheat whiskeys though. And I suspect that the reason for this dearth is just how little character wheat imparts. I expect this one's rating will come down to how good the barrel aging was and how empty the lack of grain flavor makes it seem, but let's find out. E: This is really dark. I'm thinking decent aging in high heat with fresh barrels. N: Bold, woody, kind of savory in a vaguely meaty way that has some barbecue char to it. Oh, that meatiness makes me worry that this might be too young. A little bit of sourness? Vomit? There's a rich mahogany in here, but that sourness is really drowning it out, unfortunately. Hints of American chocolate with way too much (comically too much) of that distinctive sour flavor. That sour vomit flavor. Uh, oh - I think that there might be a decent amount of butyric acid in this. The rest of this nose is nice, but that awful sour smell really stands out. P: Bold and woody, with some nice polished wood taking center stage. The sour flavor isn't initially too bad, but it starts to get fairly tannic. There are a lot of spices happening here as well, which adds some nice complexity. Chocolate comes out, starting dark, but then getting a bit of the butyric acid flavor. This is almost a nice, decadent palate, but that sour flavor is not enjoyable and all I'm tasting are shades of wood. Still, this is doing quite well with shades of wood, aside from that one flavor. F: Bitter, tannic, kind of spiced. Not a ton happening here. Occasional chocolate with hints of butyric acid, but who knows if that's from the whiskey or a side effect of its one off-putting flavor. - Conclusion - Doing some side-by-sides makes me think that the vomit flavor may just be a temporary artifact based on the state of my palate. My bottle of Balcones True Blue Cask Strength (19/23) is less woody, but a bit richer than this. It's funkier, but not at all as sour. On the other hand, Garrison Brothers 2021 (17/23) has more of a mineral flavor and is quite sour. It might not taste quite as much like vomit as this does, but it's actually fairly close. It's tough to compare these two. There's more minerality to Garrison Brothers Cowboy 2020 (22/23), but this is bolder and certainly woodier. There are more dimensions to the Garrison Brothers, but this is the bigger, more decadent dram. The real question here is how bad that vomit flavor is for this dram. Without it, this isn't the most complex, but it does a good job of presenting its decadent, woody profile. Coming back to this a couple days later, I initially got no butyric acid, but then a wave hit me. It receded, but there was still a lot of time with that flavor. It's not as bad as I previously thought, but that and the lack of complexity are real knocks against what is otherwise, a bold, woody, decadent, sweet dram. It definitely still tastes like sour American chocolate - but it doesn't taste like vomit anymore. I'm actually liking this a lot now. I'm now realizing that although the bold flavor really comes through, the alcohol does. Europeans who have good taste in chocolate probably are better off avoiding this, but I'm pretty OK with American chocolate, so I'm digging the decadence here. I'm thinking a 19 or 20, actually. Eh, could still be an 18. I'm not enjoying this sour flavor on the long finish. I'll give it a 19. I'd love to try another barrel of this to see if I can get it without so much butyric acid. Aside from that, this is pretty delightful. Previously, I was going to give this a 15, so that's the lowest I'd go. Thanks for this interesting sample @soonershrink !

I’ve always been curious to try this one, having heard good things of it from folks here. Unfortunately, the distribution isn’t wide spread yet. But, thanks to @soonershrink , who sent a generous sample, I was able to try it. Texas whiskey is in a category all by itself. It’s big, burly, loud, and makes its presence known. Nothing nuanced about it. If you think of other Texans, like Balcones and Garrison, they’re the same way—-very robust, making it known it grew up in the Texan heat. This is no different. In fact, Garrison Small batch probably wishes it were more like this one. At approx the same price point, I’d choose this over Garrison small batch any time of the day. What I like about these guys is that it’s full grain to glass. Made with Texas red wheat, and Texas rain water. Nose is sawdust and molasses. Dark cherries. Palette is Oak,thick vanilla and molasses. It’s young, but the Texas climate makes it act older than it is. If you like Balcones and Garrison, see if you’re in their distribution network. It’s a no-brainer buy at its price point of $45-60. Thanks again to @soonershrink for the pour!

I picked up another bottle of this one, as it seemed like they’ve been disappearing from local stores. Maybe the secret is getting out. I managed to get this one for only $41 with a coupon. Barrel #746, barreled 2/17, bottled at 61.3 ABV. This one seems different enough from the first barrel I tried that it deserved its own review. On the nose I get sweet wood with a slight smoke. Slightly earthy. Campfire s’mores. The palate is sugar-crusted weathered leather. The first one I tried had more fruit. This one is much more oak forward, more dry, less sweet. Still good and I’ll be a repeat buyer as long as I can find it, but I think I prefer the previous barrel I had.