I'm not a big fan of the awards handed out nowadays as they seem to be awarded to products of varying degree of quality and flavor. In other words, it seems even lower quality products can land pretty decent awards and some stellar products seem to be overlooked.
To me, you can't beat personal experience as nobody can truly understand your preferences. Beyond that, a reliable rating site (e.g. BTI or our own Rum Project) can be very useful in narrowing the field, especially if you can establish some consistency with your own formal or informal ratings or preferences. Basically, I've found that I've had better experience with some reviewers than others.
Having said all of that, I would still offer my congratulations to Winston, Jared et. al. for their success. I'm glad to see Jared proving himself out without the shadow of Chip looming over him and I'm not surprised to see Winston continuing to exhibit his marketing prowess in representing Balcones, which I believe he does extremely well.
Now let's get down to "brass tacks," so to speak. You really have to try these products to understand what Balcones is all about.
Their Texas "1" Single Malt is one of very few great American single malts and I've had lots of them. It can't compare to older Scotch whiskey, but it doesn't try to. These are completely different animals and the Texas influence is one of the great and unique characteristics of this whiskey. Sure it's priced at a premium, but you have to expect this from your local craft distillers and I'm glad to shell out a bit more for the unique experience. I've had several batches of Texas Single Malt and they remain consistent with a recognizable Balcones character and a generally evolving improvement of flavor that's probably plateaued in the last couple of years (IMHO). I believe that's good for the new Balcones, as I've said before, because it proves that they can maintain that quality in the post-Chip era. I believe that the same has been true of their other offerings as well.
I believe that it all started with Rumble, a unique spirit for sure, made from Mission fig, Texas wildflower honey and turbinado sugar... and it's nothing like rum
.
But don't stop there! Try Baby Blue, a truly good corn whiskey with a unique, buttery kettle corn flavor. If you like that and want to try a bolder version, then give True Blue a go. It's a much bigger ride that will appeal to those who like big, bold whiskies.
If you're really brave and you like smokey whiskey, then Brimstone is a must! It's like drinking a sweet, smokey barbecue whiskey. If you're not into this kind of flavor, then you're more likely to liken it to licking a campfire and should stay away, but you're truly missing out on a special spirit.
Once you've identified the base products that you like, then you'll get excited about special offerings like, Single Barrel Texas Single Malt (which I've not had, Winston... hint, hint
) or the awesome Rumble Cask Reserve.
So, forget all of the awards nonsense, as impressive as it sounds. The big question is, "Which of these whiskies have you tried and what do you think of them?"
PS - No, I don't get any kickbacks from Balcones.
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