Nose: Popcorn, butterscotch, candy floss, burnt match, black tea. Palate: Sweet for a moment in the arrival but quickly bifurcating with sweet corn-based flavours on one side (popcorn, corn syrup, butterscotch, caramel) and a hard, acidic, bitter tannic note on the other (burnt sugar, burnt wood). The texture is good but overshadowed by the harshness of the palate and there is no nuance or progression at all. Finish: Medium/long. Bitter tannin and burnt grains with a ghost of sweetness in the background. Perhaps initial trials with untoasted corn produced a whisky that was too sickly sweet, so the distillery opted for toasted corn instead, or maybe it was an attempt to introduce a smoky quality to the mash. Whatever the reason for creating this whisky in my humble opinion the experiment is only marginally successful. This is very young, loud and simplistic. If the palate had developed a mild smokiness from gently toasting the cereal it may have worked but it’s been driven way past the toasting stage and tastes outright burnt. In addition, maturing the distillate in small active casks has not helped and there is far too much oak extraction. I’ve enjoyed the other Balcones whiskies I’ve tried but this one is not at all to my taste. Other palates seem to appreciate it, and admittedly it is well made from a technical point of view with no obvious distillation flaws. If you like your whisky to have a big oak influence than fine, but my taste is more towards distillate driven expressions. Consequently I’d strongly advise trying a taste of this before laying down the money for a bottle. I bought a whole bottle when it was on special and now I’m slowly trying to use it up as a mixer, but it’s heavy going and I’m not greatly enjoying the results. “Adequate” : 74/100 (2.25 stars)