Balcones 3 Years Old Batch 2 (51.2%, That Boutique-Y Whisky Company, 212 Bottles, 2019)

• ABV: 51.2%
• Age: 3 Years Old
• Bottling: That Boutique-Y Whisky Company
• Category: US single malt whisky
• Cost: £69.95 from Master of Malt
• Origin: Balcones Distillery
• Vintage: undeclared

Image courtesy of Master of Malt

What they say

This right here is batch two of That Boutique-y Whisky Company’s Balcones single malt whisky, aged for three years before bottling! After it was distilled at Balcones in Texas, it was Tequila-cask-matured, so it’s full of all those lovely green vegetal notes. It looks like the Hell ‘n’ Back tour is still going, only this time The Brimstone Cowboys have a new spectator! He’s tending his agave plant while enjoying the fiery music, as you do.

Official tasting notes:

• Nose: Perfectly balanced sweet and savoury notes, with vegetal and somewhat funky agave in the foreground, loads of smoked, dried herbs and a pinch of salt, with fresh berries and caramel in support.
• Taste: Almost oily mouthfeel, much more savoury than the nose may suggest with freshly cut grass and heaps of vegetal agave, with a burst of sharp lemon juice and a subtle suggestion of dried sour cherries.
• Finish: Heavy pepper spice on the finish, followed by more grassy notes fading into sweeter tones of tinned pineapple, with a lingering smokiness.

What I say

An Independent bottling from Balcones, a US distillery I haven’t sampled in a while. I remember being hugely impressed with much of their early stuff and so was eager to see what TBWC had discovered in this one.

This is traditional pot still distilled single malt whisky that has been matured in ex Tequila casks.

My tasting notes:

• Appearance: Dark mahogany brown (17/20) rare, medium-fine tears and thin legs.
• Nose: Sweet and herbal, corn syrup, vanilla, toffee, bourbon, treacle, maple syrup, toffee-covered popcorn, new pencil case and new paint.
• Taste: Treacle, refined, corn syrup, vanilla, bourbon biscuits, molasses, ripe cherry fruit, plum, slight chipotle chilli heat, dry and leathery.
• Finish: Long, sweet, smooth, vanilla toffee.

Overall

Hugely sweet, I was really surprised this was a single malt and not a bourbon from Balcones. A fantastic quality as always from Balcones, I fear tasting this reasonably blind that the Tequila cask influence was completely lost on me?

Score 88/100

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