Balcones Texas Rye Cask Strength

Barrel No. 19998 Barrel pick by Spec's Age 2 years Bottled on 04-29-20 Open 5 months Nose - Chocolate coffee malt, imperial stout, rye grain, dry oak, burnt marshmallow, and strong ethanol. Palate - Ground coffee and cocoa beans, unsweetened dark chocolate, rye bread, light toffee, huge punch of oak and ethanol. Long finish with dry and hot oak, rye spice, and ethanol. It can be overwhelming amounts of heat and oak if you don't take small sips. My opinion on this drastically changed from first crack to now. When I split this with my friend we both thought this might be the best thing we've ever tasted. It tasted like cask strength Brown Forman whiskey with slightly more rye bread, chocolate, and molasses. It was a 5/5 no question. But after being open a few weeks it changed significantly. The sweet notes faded and it got much hotter, oakier, drier, and grainier. Cocoa beans, coffee grounds, and oak chips are all I can think of with every sip. I do not drink coffee, which I think has a big influence on my opinion. Even if you like this flavor profile, the heat and viscosity will overwhelm your palate. This is one of those whiskeys where you'll slowly sip one glass for 45 min and probably won't reach for a second.

63.9% ABV. Aroma explodes out of the glass with brown sugar, molasses, hay, oats, barnyard funk, rye crisp, baker’s chocolate, wet dirt, nutmeg, and sage. Bold and complex. Ethanol shockingly low…are we sure this nearly 128 proof? Palate continues the brown sugar/molasses/chocolate from the nose along with orange peel, almond, tobacco, and wood tannins. Warm hug builds over time. There’s a decent amount of unwelcome astringency to the profile. Finish is long and intense with caramel flan, spearmint, cinnamon sugar, black pepper, rye spice, leather, and mesquite wood. Mouthfeel is medium bodied and oily, but also a little on the grainy side. An interesting whiskey with much to like but also quite rough around the edges. Nowhere near what one would expect from a rye and while that’s not a crime, it’s not necessarily a win for me either. At $60 there’s no issue with value; I just wish it was a slightly softer, more cohesive overall experience. Falls short of rebuy at 3.75.

Overwhelming coffee and malt, maybe some bitter chocolate and raisin or prune on the back end. Hot finish. Single barrel select #19966 at 63.4% picked up on sale for $29.99 and glad I didnt spend a penny more. This tastes exactly like a coffee stout was turned into a spirit. It is a very unique rye, you must really love the coffee and chocolate profile to enjoy this bottle, not really my cup of tea. I almost exclusively drink my pours neat, but this one needed a cube to tame it down and make it palateable, and surprisingly so. This would probably make a good cocktail, I will be looking for some chocolate or coffee old fashioned recipes to finish off the rest of this bottle.

Total Wine & More Barrel Pick bottled at 66% and aged for 42 months. Nose is heavy on the chocolate and coffee, not too much ethanol which is surprising for a 66% bottling. Palette is actually quite similar to the nose with dark chocolate and coffee and a finish that is slightly bitter like drinking black coffee with a slight raspberry like finish as well. Just a slight burn on the way down, but the finish leaves a lingering burn in the throat. Its decent, but the chocolate/coffee is pretty darn strong and really all I'm getting from this. Maybe it will grow on me, but at the moment I likely won't repurchase. Worth a shot if you like the choco/coffee notes.

Open 10 months Nose - Coffee, cocoa powder, toffee, molasses, heavy stout malt, vanilla, strong oak and ethanol. Palate - Light and delicate sweetness up front, gingerbread, molasses, toasted rye, coffee cake, and wood pulp. Finish is long with coffee grounds, oak extract, rye baking spices, and medium ethanol heat. Sample provided by my friend last Christmas. I have no barrel information on this, but it is very similar to the last Balcones Rye CS we split. This is not my profile, but I can tell this is a well-made unique rye that some people will love.

I really really like their 100 proof rye for its chocolate note. This cask strength version cranks up all the flavors. It’s a flavor bomb of oak, tannins, chocolate, and spice. I friend of mine brought this with him for a weekend trip on the lake. We killed most of the bottle. We both preferred to drink it on a big rock and let the ice cube slowly melt as the dilution would change the flavors. The spice gets tempered with water and you get more of that chocolate sweetness as the ice melts. Good stuff!