Fafnir187
Balcones Texas Rye 100 Proof
Rye — Texas, USA
Reviewed
September 17, 2020 (edited June 17, 2021)
VERY strong aroma consisting of molasses, burnt sugar, caramel, nutmeg, mesquite wood, beef jerky, and tire fire. For a rye, I’ll be damned if I can get any rye spice in the nose.
On the palate there’s not much on the front end, basically a little light caramel and then everything goes crazy in the mid-palate; burnt ends, brown sugar, burnt creme brûlée, leather, burnt wood, tobacco, burnt tea leaf...are you sensing a theme here?
Super long finish is the best part; hot fudge, vanilla, heavily toasted bread, and cinnamon. Rye is really only present as an underlying heat. Mouthfeel is creamier than the flavor profile would suggest and it’s welcome.
This is a weird one. As a rye, it’s an epic fail. As a whiskey? Not half bad. While I like Balcones, they definitely have a “thing” present in nearly every one I have tasted; smokey, burnt sugar flavors. I feel like you definitely only need one Balcones whiskey in your cabinet at once because of the similarities between the varietals. For $40 I can’t say it’s truly overpriced, but just not balanced enough or nuanced enough to get a rebuy out of me.
40.0
USD
per
Bottle
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You nailed it with that hot fudge on the finish! I was trying to figure out what that was.LOL
I'm still getting used to the idea of my rye and bourbon coming from Texas, vodka sure(who really cares) but rye and bourbon, those are important!
@WhiskeyLonghorn @BeppeCovfefe personally I loved their rye. Really un-rye-like...deep mocha and chocolate notes. Not something for a rye purist though.
@BeppeCovfefe of skip the red label but the other three are rewarding in their own ways. The rye is unlike any other rye Ive tried. Very deep, chocolate notes. The single malt is IMO the benchmark for American Single Malt. The Baby Blue is soft, almost candy sweet at times but at other times it reminded me of buttered popcorn.
@Fafnir187 @WhiskeyLonghorn We got the rye, the black label single malt, the baby blue corn and red label straight, those are my four choices,
@Fafnir187 @BeppeCovfefe I second that recommendation. Brimstone is the most Balcones Balcones bottle out there.
@BeppeCovfefe Try “Brimstone” is you want to really sample the Balcones experience, might as well go whole hog. :)
My local is just now getting Balcones in the store, will have to check if the rye made it.