A little cold for people to be standing on their Balcones, do you not think?
Balcones Texas Single Malt 3yo (67.4%, OB Single Cask for Nichols & Perks): nose: the initial impression is that of wood varnish and teak oil. Then, it is a mix of caramelised corn syrup and warm wool or linen, alongside engine grease, and even kerosene. It has an unexpected metallic side to it: hot metal plates or something like that, yet it is a little hidden behind the sweetness of corn syrup, frangipane and golden apricot turnovers. The second sip brings further baked pastry, now slightly burnt, and dark-chocolate coulis, then something between chemical berry-flavoured sweets and manure -- WTF? It is quite nice, truth be told. Water makes it closer to Cognac, with full-on dark-grape eau-de-vie, and also a thin layer of cardboard. Mouth: sweet and almost brandy-like it has a similar combination of wood varnish, metal (tools, this time) and caramelised corn syrup. However, on the palate, it also displays a certain fruitiness and a faint bitterness -- unripe plums, maybe? Turpentine joins that, next to old paint brushed in dire need of a clean. Considering the ungodly ABV, it feels remarkably civilised. That being said, the second sip brings its share of drying ash and hot embers to balance the sweetness -- oh! It is strong alright; simply not blindingly so. Water, here too, makes it very close to Cognac, still fruity, whilst also simpler. A lot of the character is now lost. Finish: surprisingly mellow, it is full and sweet, with moist sponge cake, baked plums, a drop of liqueur (made of grapes -- would that be a sweet sherry?) and piping-hot fruit, complemented by a minute quantity of melted dark chocolate. Amazingly, water reveals the fruit more in the finish, with dark grapes, macerating in punch, banane flambée and gingerbread. Nice, this. 7/10 (Thanks for the sample, PP)
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