Balcones Lineage TEXAS Single Malt Whiskey

Cost: $45 for 750 mL bottle (South Carolina)

Age: 3 yrs

Mash Bill: 100% malted barley (mix of “Texas-grown” and Scottish Golden Promise)

Proof: 94

Being from Texas, I’ve tried a couple Balcones whiskies (mostly bourbon) over the years, but since I wasn’t ever into American Single Malts until recently I never tried any ASM expression of theirs. I recently found this bottle at a local liquor store and decided I’d finally try a Balcones ASM. Let’s see how it goes!

Batch SML21-1 bottled on 4/15/21. Reviewed neat in a Glencairn.

Appearance: Auburn (1.5) in color, thin and fast legs at first, but it also forms a nice ring around the glass that slowly forms thin, slow legs looking a lot like brown sugar simple syrup on the side of the glass.

Nose: A very earthy nose with lots of grain and oak. There’s a funkiness to it which I think is coming from the type of malted barley used. Getting past that, there’s a sweet sour apple note, like a tart apple cider, a little cinnamon and banana as well. On second whiff, there’s actually quite a bit of vanilla that I think I just lost amongst the funk that’s going on. I’m also picking up what I would best describe as a metallic note…

Palate: The mouthfeel is on the thinner side, like a thin simple syrup. I do pick up on a brown sugar sweetness and hazelnut right at first, and a graininess as well, but that funk from the nose shows up pretty quickly. It seems to be from the malt but there’s also a bitterness to the funkiness that I find common in Texas whiskies that I think is tied to their young age statements due to the high temp aging that goes on. But this is more than that and leans more into “flaw” and not “polarizing note” to me.

Finish: That funk bleeds over into the finish coming across as musty oak. The metallic note from the nose shows back up, and this does have a tannic dryness and a slight astringentness. The finish is relatively short – in this case, I appreciate that...

Rating: 2.2/10

Overall: Maybe it’s the malt, maybe the youth, maybe the bottle actually went bad. Whatever it is, it not okay. I tried my best to dig past the unpleasantries and pick up on other notes to share, but it was hard. This is the 3rd or 4th Balcones whiskey I’ve tried (first I’ve reviewed), and as a Texas native I want to like them, but they make it really hard… I’ll likely still visit them next time I’m in Waco as I’ve never been to their distillery before; perhaps they’ll have something that jives with me in person. For what it’s worth, this was the 4th pour from this bottle over 3 months, and sadly I can say it has gotten better. And no, adding a little water didn’t help this one. For now, this bottle will be relegated to cocktails only, and if I encounter a friend who likes it they will find that they’ll be taking this bottle home!

1 | Disgusting | ...I've not subjected myself to this level

2 | Poor | Balcones Lineage

3 | Bad | High West Double Rye, Jefferson's Ocean 28

4 | Sub-par | Weller's SR, Woodford Reserve Distiller's Select

5 | Good | Buffalo Trace, Sazerac Rye, Green River Wheated

6 | Very Good | Blanton's, Holladay Bourbons, Widow Jane Decadence

7 | Great | Baker's 7yr SiB, WhistlePig PiggyBack SiB, 1792 BiB

8 | Excellent | Most ECBP batches, JD SiB BiB, High West MWND Act 11

9 | Incredible | Barrel Bourbon Batch T8ke, BBC DS #7, Four Roses OESQ

10 | Perfect | Found North Batch 08