Balcone's Rum

[sailor22]

Recently had an interesting discussion about altered Rums with a very knowledgable Balcone's rep. Balcone's is one of the few noted micro distillers making really good juice. They don't do me too whiskeys, rather they are creative and innovative but they typically have a quality product. As with most micros the aging is the step that slows the output and strains the cash flow. By using both small and large barrels they have avoided a lot of the negatives that small barrel producers suffer with. While they simply haven't been in business long enough to produce mature spirits aged in the traditional manner they have found a work around that is pretty close.

Turns out that Chip, the master distiller at Balcone's has made some Rum and it is currently aging. It sounds like something we should keep an eye out for. Here are a few of the highlights of it's provenance;

The questions I asked;
So many questions about your Rum - Are you starting with molasses? Macerated cane? cane juice? any other botanicals in the mash? Aging in new charred oak or second or third use barrels? what size barrels? Using any finishing barrels? planning on dumping multipl barrels for bottling or bottling as single barrel offerings? Proof off the still? Most commercial rums come off the still at near vodka proof and add flavors to create their flavor profile. There is an opportunity for some experimentation with very low off still proof carrying a lot of cane flavor to age in softer large second or third fill whiskey barrels. To my knowledge, no one is doing that just now except possibly at Prichard's and in Martinique.

The answers;
-We're using two kinds of organic molasses - one is Barbados, the other is blackstrap.
-No botanicals, just molasses
-Using 1st, 2nd and 3rd fill barrels (the same bespoke cooperage we use for everything)
-Combination of 5gal and 60gal barrels
-We don't necessarily consider it "finishing" but there might be blue corn, malt or rumble barrels involved in the aging. And anything that was in small barrel first gets married into a large barrel eventually
-The batches will be minglings of select barrels artfully combined to showcase the best aspects of each cask in the blend
-We pull off the stills at multiple proofs to capture different aspects of the spirit, but we never go nearly as high as vodka proof. We want flavor in our spirit!

Now those are some interesting, specific and encouraging answers. The juice is aging just now but it sounds like something to keep an eye out for in the future. It should be one we can add to the "unaltered" list.




*******
Capn's Log: Great post! I especially urge all readers who want an insight into the process to please, please view Balcone's video at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXf_IIXR ... r_embedded

[bearmark]

I'll be attending a Balcones tasting with Chip Tate and Winston Edwards tonight at Trinity Hall Pub in Dallas. Tastings include: Baby Blue (blue corn whiskey), True Blue (cask strength blue corn whisky), Rumble (mission fig, wildflower honey and turbinado sugar), Rumble Cask Reserve (cask strength Rumble), Brimstone (corn whisky smoked over scrub oak) and "1" (Texas single malt). Rumor has it that the 5th Anniversary Texas Straight Bourbon will make an appearance as well. I'm hoping to get a sample of their Overproof Rum, as it's already been entered in some competitions over the past several months, but I haven't heard about any sightings at recent tastings. There are also special releases of their single malt, corn whisky and a Brimstone Resurrection slated for later this year. I'll post a follow-up tomorrow with details.

I can tell you that I have high hopes for their rum, as everything that Chip Tate touches seems to turn to gold (as in awards).

[bearmark]

I'll be attending a Balcones tasting with Chip Tate and Winston Edwards tonight at Trinity Hall Pub in Dallas. Tastings include: Baby Blue (blue corn whiskey), True Blue (cask strength blue corn whisky), Rumble (mission fig, wildflower honey and turbinado sugar), Rumble Cask Reserve (cask strength Rumble), Brimstone (corn whisky smoked over scrub oak) and "1" (Texas single malt). Rumor has it that the 5th Anniversary Texas Straight Bourbon will make an appearance as well. I'm hoping to get a sample of their Overproof Rum, as it's already been entered in some competitions over the past several months, but I haven't heard about any sightings at recent tastings. There are also special releases of their single malt, corn whisky and a Brimstone Resurrection slated for later this year. I'll post a follow-up tomorrow with details.

I can tell you that I have high hopes for their rum, as everything that Chip Tate touches seems to turn to gold (as in awards).

Well, I'm back from the event and it was a lot of fun. We tasted all of the above, including the elusive Texas Straight Bourbon. After most of the attendees left, Chris Tate treated our table to a taste of his Brimstone Resurrection, another of the limited 5th anniversary releases:

Brimstone Resurrection-the brilliant outcome of a near catastrophic mistake-will also be making its debut this month. As all of our corn whiskies, Resurrection is made from blue corn grown in the scorching sun, which is then roasted to become blue corn atole. But in the case of this one barrel, we messed up. We burnt the corn to the bottom of the still while distilling it-badly burnt it ... very badly ... hammer and chisels badly. We nearly threw out the resulting distillate, but instead, I decided to send the whisky through a special smoking process to add additional layers of complexity. The result is a wonderfully powerful and subtle Brimstone whisky. Sun grown corn, then roasted, burned, twice boiled and then "raised up" in a heavily charred barrel to be released in the third year as Brimstone Resurrection! A whisky that would make Dante proud.

This is one fantastic whiskey (perhaps the best I've ever tasted) and the bourbon was fantastic as well! If you're counting, that was a total of 9 pours for the evening, since we sampled all 3 versions of their corn whiskey: Baby Blue (46% ABV), True Blue 100 (50% ABV) and True Blue (~60% ABV). During the course of the evening, Chip provided insights related to each pour as well as some general information about Balcones, its products and his philosophy in relation to whiskey. Here are some notable comments:

• In Texas, loss to evaporation during aging is about 20-25% as compared to 1-2% in Scotland. He monitors each barrel closely and tastes each one at least every 2 months in order to profile the flavors of each and determine when to progress to the next stage of aging.
• Aging is accomplished in various types of oak and various sizes of barrels. Each barrel is made from yard-dried wood that has been seasoned for at least 3 years. For this reason, Balcones barrels cost considerably more than is typical.
• None of his whiskeys carry an age statement because "it's none of your damned business." Ages aren't really comparable from region to region and he believes these statements to be misleading. He ages whiskey "until it's ready."
• I noted that his Rumble from 2011 wasn't nearly as good as the 2013 batch that we tasted last night. He said that he won't apologize for past products/batches because they are/were great in their own right. He believes that they should constantly improve and endeavors to improve each successive batch or start over... each batch has to be better than the previous one. This definitely was the case with Rumble. I was completely satisfied with my 2011 bottling and I'm now excited about getting a more recent batch that I can enjoy even more. The evolution of their first whiskey is quite impressive.

If you get a chance to sample or purchase any of Balcones' products, you won't be disappointed. They're all worthwhile. If you're looking for a good starter and something unique, then I'd recommend Baby Blue. From there you can either try the higher proof True Blue offerings or venture into the smoked variation, Brimstone.

[Capn Jimbo]

Not that I'm not impressed...



But really, the notion that "Ages aren't really comparable from region to region and he believes these statements to be misleading. He ages whiskey "until it's ready." Not unexpected from a young distillery. When he has some 10 or 15 year old product, he'll be singing another tune, I'd bet...

[sailor22]

Location of aging does matter.

Jim Russel of Wild Turkey said they sent four barrels of fresh fill new make to Scotland and took 4 barrels of fresh fill new make from the same distillery. The Bourbon was aged in Scotland for 4 years and the Scotch was aged in a Wild Turkey warehouse in Kentucky for 4 years.

He said after 4 years the Bourbon in Scotland had barely aged while the Scotch in Kentucky had matured way beyond the same juice that stayed in Scotland.

Benchmark Bourbon used to have an aging facility in New Orleans with a thought that the extra heat and humidity would speed things up. It does but it isn't a magic bullet. It creates different - some would say sharper - flavors.


*******
Capn's Log: It's long been stated here that a year in the tropics is the equivalent of two or three years in say Scotland. Still, some processes simply take time beyond the additional "breathing" in the tropic. But please don't misunderstand my point - this is a meticulous if somewhat opinionated distiller (indeed one of his great successes was a horrible mistake) - and like all new distillers the subject of age is challenging and at least by him, rejected. Believe me, if he survives long enough to have some 12 year old spirit about, he won't hesitate to promote its age. Ask Phil Prichard, lol ...

[Dai]

By the sounds of there whisky there rum should be good.

[sailor22]

Not everyone shares a uniformly positive impression of their juice.
ie - I found the Brimstone to be way, way overly sooty and almost greasy with the sort of creosote you get when attempting to smoke food with Mesquite. A one flavor note mess of soot and wet ash. Like licking the inside of a damp chimney. And I'm being generous with that description. I literally had to brush my teeth and tung after tasting it.
Some of the other juice I tasted was OK to good.

[bearmark]

Not that I'm not impressed...
But really, the notion that "Ages aren't really comparable from region to region and he believes these statements to be misleading. He ages whiskey "until it's ready." Not unexpected from a young distillery. When he has some 10 or 15 year old product, he'll be singing another tune, I'd bet...

If you ever have a chance to hear Chip Tate speak about his whiskey or visit with him, be sure to grab the opportunity. He's an exceedingly interesting guy to talk to. On the subject of aging, perhaps I'm misrepresenting his point in the way that I stated it. Let me try this again. I do believe that Chip understands the value and importance of aging, but he doesn't believe that a number of years is a good basis of judging a whiskey. The size of the barrel, preparation of the wood, previous contents, environment, etc. all have significant impact. Someone cutting corners with these aspects of aging and just claiming a certain numbers of years in some barrel is not likely to produce a great whiskey. It's a science that requires much monitoring and care. I have no doubt that Chip will produce some older whiskey (perhaps aging in his warehouse now), but he won't do it without the goal of great taste in mind. If you listen to him talk on the subject, then you'll understand what I mean. My impression is that he's merely trying to expose a gimmick put forward based on an oversimplification... this is actually quite complex.

Chris is also a stickler for transparency. Aside from the details of how long each whiskey spends in each type of barrel and how they're blended (i.e. his art), he tells you how the barrels are prepared, what they're made of, the size of each, the mash bill of the whiskey, the source of the grain, where they're distilled, who distills them, etc. He is quite vocal about bottlers who don't identify their sources or what they put in their whiskey. He'll tell you why he doesn't chill filter, why he bottles at the proofs that he does (e.g. True Blue 100 was created to avoid high tariffs in the UK), why he uses hopi blue corn, etc. He's a purist and apologizes for the limited availability of his products, but he refuses to rush the process or cut corners. He's on a mission to make better and better whiskey.

I'm telling you that this is our kind of guy!

[bearmark]

Not everyone shares a uniformly positive impression of their juice.
ie - I found the Brimstone to be way, way overly sooty and almost greasy with the sort of creosote you get when attempting to smoke food with Mesquite. A one flavor note mess of soot and wet ash. Like licking the inside of a damp chimney. And I'm being generous with that description. I literally had to brush my teeth and tung after tasting it.
Some of the other juice I tasted was OK to good.

Brimstone is definitely an acquired taste in a similar fashion to Islay whisky. My first taste of Brimstone was about 8 months ago and I wasn't too impressed. Since then, I've developed a real liking for Islay whisky (Ardbeg Ten, Bunnahaiban Toiteach, Laphroaig 10) and have acclimated to the smokiness. My recent tasting of Brimstone was totally different... it was sweet, more balanced and smoky in a unique way. I will definitely buy a bottle (and I'm not alone, based on the reviews) and look forward to securing a bottle of Brimstone Resurrection.