Imo there is no single malt in the world that can touch this at price point. The pot still character and Golden Promise barley deliver such a thick rich flavor that despite its age this Texas malt is far superior to similarly priced Scottish competition. In fact this will compete with scotch twice its cost

@Richard-ModernDrinking There are some pretty great entry level scotches though. I was stunned at the depth and flavours in Ardbeg's Wee Beastie (5 year) $45/bottle and I'd value it close to the $90 that I think I would agree with on this Lineage. I mean, tasting notes of creosote (literally given on the bottle's label) so, not for everyone, but yeah. I guess the big problem is the age. Young scotch has trouble mellowing in the barrel, while American stuff has such an advantage with the big temperature swells. So a 5 year American can compete with a 15 year scotch, at half the price.

"barbecues of revenge"

@PBMichiganWolverine Wow! It's bizarre that India set such a limit. It looks like the max for distilled spirits in India is 45.5%, which is oh-so-close to typical Amrut bottlings. I wonder why they don't just do a special version at 45.5% for the Indian market.

@dhsilv2 Agreed that the warmer climate stuff like Kavalan does end up being kind of bombs a lot of the time. As @Richard-ModernDrinking pointed out though, it's a lot better than a lot of Scotch though. I'm confused as @Anthology is about why these young whiskies from hot areas cost so much though. Kavalan in particular is outlandishly expensive, though it is good whisky.

@PBMichiganWolverine L🤣L. I think I’ll pass on the backyard kerosine hooch. The mention of kerosine does elicit some nostalgia for me, having spent some time in rural Africa. Primarily used there as fuel for Aladdin-style lanterns...

@Anthology so in South Asia, india specifically, Amrut isn’t allowed to be sold there. That’s because it’s above the government mandated maximum ABV ( I think 46% ). Forces them to sell ex-India. If I understand this correctly...it’s okay to make backyard hooch there out of kerosene, but not drink Amrut.

@PBMichiganWolverine Sounds like an opportunity to me. Are prices there in south Asia commensurate to the lower demand [or preference] for those products as well? Some Amrut and Kavalan products are priced silly here in US.

@dhsilv2 Agreed, but for $40 I’d take this over a lot of entry-level Scotch.

This really did floor me in terms of quality and how similar to scotch it is. That said...this isn't competative with good scotch either. Getting the premium impacts of oak on a whisky in these warmer climates hasn't happened yet. This might be a good counter to the lower end stuff or we can discuss the kavalan's as they are wonderful wine cask finished "bombs" but actually going at properly aged high end scotch? We've yet to see someone really do that.

@WhiskeyLonghorn Indeed, it’s a milestone for the American single malt industry. At prices like these, it can compete on more than just novelty value.

@cascode Clearly I need to look more into different types of barley since I've been finding more and more how important the base distillate is. Good point about the Texas barrels as well.

@jonwilkinson7309 Yeah! Looking forward to seeing where it is in 10 years and what awesome releases we have.

@PBMichiganWolverine I wasn't aware of that market factor. Good for scotch distillers then - gives them time to adapt to the competition.

Thanks for the review. Im going to have get this , sounds like an all around winner

@Richard-ModernDrinking Very interesting, and a great review – I hope we see this in our market. @ContemplativeFox Good point about faster maturation cycles, and it’s fantastic how “new world” distilleries have so quickly adapted to their environments. Also, the importance of Golden Promise barley to this whiskey can’t be stressed too highly. It’s little used now as the yield is low, but it is famous for its richness. Macallan still uses about 25% Golden Promise. I’d guess by now Balcones has a large stock of their own refill casks from previous products, so oak that has been well-seasoned with hefty Texas whisky is probably also a factor here.

Wow! I never would have expected this profile from Balcones. The development of the American single malt market has been quite interesting.

@ContemplativeFox for now, South Asia also has a love affair with Scottish made, so the likes of Amrut, Kavalan, Paul John do better outside than in S.Asia

@Richard-ModernDrinking not yet...I finally just got power, so might give it a go this eve

This is a milestone of sorts for Balcones, because not only is this a competitive malt in terms of price and availability to many Scottish malts, it’s $40; considerably less than many Balcones core offerings. And it’s not a one off limited release. This is part of their core range now. It’s next on my pickup list.

Yeah, it's going to be difficult for Scotland to compete with places like the US, Australia, and South East Asia given the ability to rapidly age spirits in warmer climates.

@PBMichiganWolverine Not yet. You?

Did you try the Bock yet from the sample set ?