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.