Rating: 19/23 What an interesting concept! Tequila and mezcal finishes are exceedingly rare for reasons that I don't really understand. This ups the ante on the tequila finish though by starting with a corn whiskey rather than a malt or bourbon. Oh, make that BLUE corn! So, it's a very bold concept and I'm deathly curious about how it's worked out. N: It's quite a sweet nose with the agave front and center. I get a somewhat musty and lightly dusty vegetation at the front with a big ol' dose of vanilla, lightly wrapped in a maple sweetness. The vegetation doesn't smell rancid or obtrusive in any way and brings in a nice bit of bitterness to balance the whole thing out. There is also, of course, a moderately amount of corn from the base distillate coming out of the dustiness and a definite ethanol presence - though less ethanol than one would expect for a cask strength offering that had barely been aged over a year. The nose as a whole makes me think of a combination of 4 spirits: Balcones Single Malt, Balcones Baby Blue, Clase Azul Reposado, and Don Julio 1942. Considering that, I'd say that Balcones absolutely nailed the marriage of blue corn, tequila, and the Balcones signature taste. The vegetal flavor combined with the general rich sweetness and moderate youth makes me think of the Clase Azul. The dust and big vanilla says Dun Julio. The light, yet slightly funky, dusty corn and mild ethanol represent the blue corn. The sweet maple that pervades Balcones Single Malt really ties it together as an aged Balcones offering. The balance is excellent and the profile is quite interesting. I wouldn't say it's an amazingly complex nose, but it's quite solid. I hope that the palate and finish hold up to the high expectations the nose has set. P: Wow, this is quite something! The tequila flavors hit first with the sweet vanilla and vegetal agave front and center. For a moment, it just tastes like a less sweet Clase Azul Reposado. Then, the musty, dusty wood and grain come in. There's a brief segment where it mostly just burns and is light, but then the dustiness comes back and transitions rapidly from grain to a big cinnamon woodiness and the dram briefly tastes like nothing but a loud, cinnamony bourbon. As I move on to the second sip, the various parts harmonize together more and the journey is less of a roller coaster. There's a bit more bitterness to the vegetation and I'm detecting a really nice tangerine (more on the orange side than the apricot side) note. It took me a minute to identify what it made me think of, but I'm now pretty sure that it's a flavor that I most often get from Irish whiskey. It reminds me a little of the high proof and citric tartness of Redbreast 12 Cask Strength mixed with the sweet, juicy apricot that's in Yellow Spot or maybe even one of the older (16 or 21) Bushmill's. The high proof makes the tangerine quite assertive. It's mouth watering, but also a bit immature tasting as a result because the proof seems to make up a large component of the flavor. Oddly, it reminds me of when I tried Aberlour 12 side by side with Scallywag. The Aberlour had a smoother, but more subdued fruitiness, whereas the Scallywag was more lively, but its fruit was less fully flavored on its own (before including the alcohol bite). It took me a while to decide that I slightly preferred the Aberlour because both were quite tasty profiles. That's a long way of saying that this is the Scallywag and that isn't a bad thing. F: The finish is surprisingly dry. The main flavors here are that rich Clase Azul vegetation (without the sweetness) and a substantial bitter vanilla presence, a lot like if you licked the measuring spoon after pouring vanilla extract into your chocolate chip cookie dough. It's hard to stress enough just how much vanilla is in here, at least for a brief period. There's a big waft of ethanol that melds just a bit with the vanilla in a delightful way that kind of makes me think of a really nice vodka. Late in the finish, the vegetation and vanilla calm down enough for a mellow musty, dusty wood to emerge. This is an easy 17, but I think that a 20 is pushing it. It's tough to rate this because there isn't really anything else I can reasonably compare it with. The complexity here is very good and the balance works in a weird way that feels like a little push one way or the other could send it tumbling. In this expression at least though, the balance certainly works. It kind of takes some of the best elements of Clase Azul Reposado and Don Julio 1942 and stitches them onto a Balcones foundation. And somehow, this is mostly a great success. For that reason, I'm landing on a 19. In terms of pricing, this would be well worth grabbing at $100 or maybe $120, considering the proof. An intriguing and delightful dram!