Dark amber, almost mahogany. Very Texas. Nose is HOT! There is a whopping amount of cola and wood with a dash of canned fruit salad. I can recognize that this isn’t bourbon but don’t know that I’d identify it as a single malt. There are fascinating sour cherry notes along with caraway seed, dried mango and something that is not quite mesquite but not standard American oak. Palate: Fruit galore… like, fruit city. Sour, tangy, sweet, bitter, zesty, citrus and orchard all together. Caramel soft candies. Oh, and cola and a bit of barbacue sauce. Is there a dash of Worcestershire sauce in here? Man, this is all Texas. Or at least 90% and maybe 10% Speyside. Finish goes on for days with caramel candies (the kind on wax wrappers), red grapes and a bit of caraway and adobo. Wow, this is bizarre. I understand they use several types of oak barrel (Hungarian, French, American) for their standard single malt and perhaps being a single barrel this comes from American oak - but it sure doesn’t taste like it. I suspect some of the fruity notes come from the mash but the mesquite and Worcestershire notes… I just don’t know. Rating this is inherently difficult for me. I would take almost any full proof bourbon over this and practically and Scotch. Not that I think this is bad, it’s just incredibly different. For what it is (Texas barbecue on the 4th of July sort of thing) I’d say it’s a solid 3.5, which might be selling it short but it’s the sort of thing I enjoyed trying but wouldn’t ever seek out. Thanks to @ghill40509 for the generous sample! Certainly makes me want to get more into American malts!