Balcones Brimstone

Rating: 8/23 N: Youthful. A hint of meat hits me first, along with some smoke and a light sweetness. Swirling it a bit more and giving it a minute, the meat drops out, but some big, tannic over-oaking emerges. There's some vanilla behind it, but it smells positively acrid. Smelling it some more, I do start to get a bit of corn, but the burnt wood is substantially stronger. This smells like far too many wood chips that were cooked at too high of a temperature for too long were dumped into a young corn whiskey. I am getting a little bit of some fruit now (blackberry?), but it's faint and too little to make much of a difference. P: Charred wood. Like way too charred. There's also a layer of sweet corn, but there's a lot of ethanol behind it and it's an uncomplex base distillate. It's sort of like Mellow Corn mixed with some fairly over-cooked American oak wood chips - well into the acrid range, with lots of tannins. The char brings some smoke, but nothing here is complex and aside from a bit of nice corn and smoke, the ethanol and acrid wood char are the most prominent. I do get that blackberry from the nose and it's actually sweeter and more substantial than I'd expected. A touch of something herbal with a touch of mint even at times, but mostly this is just a few loud flavors, with the loudest ones being bad. Some prickling spice (black pepper) and heat that surprisingly isn't harsh. F: Tannic and bitter with some light corn sweetness and blackberry. More ash than smoke, really. Not a ton happening here and it isn't that good, but it's better than the palate I suppose. At least the ethanol isn't as loud. - Conclusion - Side by side, I'd take Ancient Ancient Age 10 Star (11/23) over this. The Ancient Ancient Age is more complex and balanced, which says a lot. I don't have Mellow Corn (9/23) here to compare with, but I'm inclined to think that this is worse than that. This isn't terrible because - thankfully - it lacks sulphur, but it's certainly no better than a 9. I don't think I'd go below a 6, but that acrid wood is really bad. I'm getting a little blackberry from the Ancient Ancient Age right now and I've never gotten that before. It actually has a stronger blackberry character than this does, so maybe I should nix that from my tasting. I only added it when I came back for the second half of the sample and I tasted no trace of it the first time, so I'm inclined to dismiss it. It was a nice improvement though. I'll give this the benefit of the doubt and give it an 8 because of that blackberry, but that's it. It might be a good mixer in a smoky cocktail though. Thanks, @ctbeck11 , for sharing this one. It seems I'm the odd man out in my dislike for it. I'd be interested to try an older version though because although I'm not a huge fan of the way this is smoked, Balcones usually does quite a nice job with their blue corn whiskey.

Is it possible for Balcones to produce a bad whisky? This is the fourth bottle from Waco that I've tasted, and I've loved every single one. As with all the other Balcones whiskies I've had, this one drinks like a whisky that sells for more than I actually paid. This is a 100% corn whisky, and it's 106 proof. According to the label it's aged for "AT LEAST ONE DAY," but whether that means only one day or more than one day I don't know. The color, though, is too dark for me to believe that it was less than a few months. Corn whisky, of course, has no minimum aging requirement. The color in the glass is that of wheat straw, with just a slight reddish tinge. On the NOSE I got smoke right off the bat; this was the main note. There was also alcohol, which isn't surprising at that proof. And there's something sweet in the nose as well, though what specifically I couldn't identify. The TASTE is as unique as all the Balcones whiskies I've had. It begins with something sweet that, as with the nose, I couldn't identify. Then comes the smoke, honey, oak (different from the smokiness), and an alcohol burn. The FINISH is long, beginning with alcohol that moves from the front to the back, and with oak and smoke following, also moving from front to back and lingering in the throat. I don't know exactly what a smoked whisky is, but this whisky is glorious. It's a simple whisky, but Balcones does such good things with its juice that it drinks like something much more complex. At $49.99 a fifth I won't be able to keep this stuff on hand all the time, but it is well worth the price; I'd be willing to pay $60 or more, if I had it, for this whisky.

Dan Murphys international whisky tasting night. N: Thick artificial and rubbery. Lots of synthetic core syrup sweetness and liquid smoke flavour, vague lanolin and lightly fragrant herbs. This has been sat for maybe 30 minutes in the glass. Yet, was still an olfactory assault. P: Corn sweetness and lots of candy (hairbo lollies!), sticky BBQ sauce and prominent wood ash. There is a pleasant toffee apple and cinnamon underneath but there is too much cloying corn sweetness to enjoy it. F: Short-medium. Yet more candy sweetness and some building ethanol heat. Aggressively artificial. No clear character or purpose for me just a powerfully synthetic mash of woodsmoke and sweetness. Wood smoke is hard to do well, and I haven’t found myself to be a huge fan, but this just came across like a home distilled garage experiment and is not something I would seek out. Distiller whisky taste #177

On the nose, there’s a lot of density. Mostly sweetness and smoke with a little bit of spice to it as well. The palate opens up super salty at first, then there’s a burst of brown sugar sweet notes, before it finishes with a heavy smoke. It’s not a peat smoke though. Think more grilled-vegetable smoke. This is definitely an experience whiskey. I could see it being very polarizing. For enthusiasts, especially fans of craft whiskies, this will be easy to love because it’s rich, bold and has a long complex finish. But it’s not for the faint-of-heart. This would probably scare off a lot of newcomers. For uniqueness alone, I enjoyed this, but it’s not necessarily in line with my personal palate. Side note: add a little water and the smoke subdues considerably.

Smoky but not like you’re used to. It has little in common with its peaty Scottish cousins from Islay but if you like them this is an interesting change. Tastes like a barbecue. It's rich, tangy, and full of smoke. Oily mouth feel, full of character and unique. Has a notes of garlic and motor oil that are unlike anything I've found in anywhere else in whiskey. Under that there are touches of cinnamon, molasses, black pepper and red pepper. If you like barbecue and unusual whiskeys give this a try.

Nose: Lots of syrupy corn sweetness, dark cherries, and an unusual smoke. Palette: Much drier than the nose. Turns to smoke, ash, and leather. Nice and thick. Finish: Releases a little bit of sweetness at the end again while the smoke also lingers. High and low notes at the same time. Super interesting and a very unique and fun whiskey to sip on. I could return to this one often.