Balcones Texas Straight Bourbon Spring 2021 Single Cask #8 (Lost Lantern)

Score: 22/23 I believe I saw this is only about two years old, which makes me very doubtful. At the same time, I saw great reviews for it, so I'm optimistic. I suppose I'll just have to find out (taste). N: A rather significant nose. I do detect some alcohol, but it's more the quantity I'd anticipate from a 60+% ABV bourbon, not nearly as much as I'd normally expect from a 2-year-old bourbon. It's toasty-woody with some muted corn sweetness. The wood doesn't seem excessively tannic. I get a kind of medium-roast coffee contributing roasted, slightly tart, and mild herbal notes. Traces of tart cherry here and there. At certain moments, I detected a hint of something savory like young alcohol, but that note quickly disappeared. Occasionally, I get a burst of dried fruits (cherry, raisin, sultana, and perhaps a few others) that reminds me of a grande champagne cognac. This nose began bold but uncomplicated; however, after a few minutes in my glencairn, it has opened up immensely, developing considerable complexity with some truly wonderful aromas and even a little more boldness than it started with and at least as much balance. There's that one occasional off aroma, but it's easy to overlook on the nose and I don't expect to taste it on the palate. Returning a few minutes later, the fruits have become more syrupy, yet they don't appear overly sweet. It's simply decadent. P: Rich, full, moderately high viscosity, significant burn. Initially, it hits me with that cognac fruit layer, but that swiftly vanishes, and I get toastiness for a moment before it transitions to medium-roast coffee territory. I detect char, tartness, a bit of herbal character. Throughout this, there's a subtle corn sweetness underneath. The tartness transforms into a flash of bright cherry, and then the cognac fruits return. I do occasionally get a hint of that maple I associate with Balcones Single Malt. The early and mid-palate are good, but it's truly the late palate leading into the finish where this excels the most. Initially, there's a slight bite to this. It's not exactly harsh, but it possesses a flavor that harsh whiskey often has - just a sharp bitterness with vaguely prickling spice. I do get some alcohol flavor present, but there are also some flavors of clove and black pepper, along with perhaps hints of cinnamon and allspice, helping to explain it. I would hope that if I drained the bottle by a third and let it sit for several months, this aspect might mellow somewhat. F: A delightfully hedonistic, complex, balanced, and lengthy finish of medium-roast coffee bitterness, tartness, and light herbal variation mingled with some decadent dried fruits. Occasionally, the coffee develops a slight dry wood note, but that's infrequent. Some 50% dark chocolate at times, even. - Conclusion - I wouldn't have believed that a barrel this young could be nearly this good, but clearly the people at Lost Lantern know better than I do. They absolutely nailed it with this barrel. Alright, time to compare this with some heavyweights. This isn't quite as full-bodied as my cask strength bottle of Garrisson Brothers Single Barrel, but it is much more complex with less woody austerity. Although the Garrisson Brothers has improved considerably over time, it still isn't amazing and isn't at all on the same level as this is. Jack Daniel's Single Barrel Barrel Proof (21/23) begins with a distinct alcohol flavor as well, but it's less sharp and is quickly enveloped by the oily viscosity. Although just as hedonistic, the Jack Daniel's never reaches the level of complexity that this does, so I must award this the victory. Going cross-category here: El Dorado 21 (21/23). The El Dorado similarly surprised me with its cognac character. The El Dorado is smoother, though not necessarily more balanced or complex. Without going into excessive detail, I believe I prefer this. It's not vastly superior to the El Dorado, but it definitely seems better. Elijah Craig Barrel Proof B520 (22/23) has more of a traditional sour mash flavor profile while maintaining somewhat similar coffee notes to this one, plenty of additional barrel spices, and a touch of chocolate. There is very little fruit in the Elijah Craig, but it's similarly balanced and complex. This whiskey spreads its balance more broadly, embracing more diverse - and unusual - flavors, whereas the Elijah Craig is more focused on its traditional bourbon character. It's actually a quite difficult choice between the two, but I've ultimately determined that as they currently stand, the Elijah Craig is a slightly superior bourbon. That being said, I can envision that this, given several months of aeration, would mellow enough while retaining its complexity to surpass the Elijah Craig. After all, I originally gave the Elijah Craig an 18 before it received all of that air. I don't know how long this was sitting in an open bottle before being bottled for me, but I doubt it was very long. Considering how close this is to the Elijah Craig, I'm settling on a 22. I can imagine anything in the 21 to 23 range for this, though I feel a 23 is more probable than a 21 at this point. Even with the Elijah Craig being slightly better, I must offer this some significant praise. At a mere 2 years old, I didn't think any whiskey could possess this level of richness, fullness, complexity, and balance. A huge thank you to a friend for sending me a sample of this! It is the finest demonstration of the capabilities of both Lost Lantern and Balcones that I have yet encountered. I'm thoroughly impressed by this bourbon and am delighted to be sharing this tasting note as my 1100th.

The aroma is dense and rich, beginning with a lightly roasted caramel macchiato, followed by grade A dark maple syrup-covered flapjacks, then fruits like stewed plums, fresh dates, sautéed cinnamon apples, and black cherries, transitioning to red hot candy, ginger, nutmeg, well-worn cowboy boots, and cherry wood burning in a fireplace, accompanied by a strong ethanol burn. The taste has a thick, oily maple syrup consistency, starting with a pronounced oak spice that softens to a lightly roasted caramel macchiato, then flapjacks cooked in brown butter, followed by fruits of prunes, cinnamon apple pie, and charred orange peel. This leads to a high, drying spice that gradually subsides into chocolate-covered candied pecans, ginger, nutmeg, worn cowboy boots, and ashy tannic oak, with a significant ethanol burn. The finish is lengthy, featuring ashy tannic oak, espresso, chocolate-covered marshmallow, apple chips, black cherries, and candied pecans. This distillery certainly knows how to craft a bold, flavorful whiskey. It begins with an amazing nose full of coffee, citrus, bready notes, and barrel spices, which carries through to the taste but shifts towards a strong drying spice in the mid-palate. It then reveals some nutty chocolate notes alongside ashy, bitter oak. The finish has the characteristic notes of citrus, espresso, berries, and toasted marshmallow, but an excessive amount of tannic, ashy oak disrupts the balance. In a comparison with the 2021 edition of Barrell 15 year, this held its own, which is quite impressive when matched against a $220 whiskey. However, if tannic oak tends to overwhelm your palate, you might want to consider other options. Many thanks to a friend for the generous sample provided for my tasting.

Nose - coffee, black cherry, rich caramel, dark chocolate, vanilla, dusty corn, leather, black pepper, tobacco, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, clove, dense oak, plum, peanut, orange pith, apple, moderate ethanol burn. Taste - baked apple, dark chocolate, coffee, salted caramel, molasses, chili pepper, orange, lemon, leather, cornbread, vanilla, tobacco, nutmeg, cinnamon, clove, allspice, rich oak, pecan, walnut, spearmint, moderate to high alcohol bite, finishing long with dark chocolate, coffee, baking spice, and deep oak flavors. My series of Texas whiskey reviews is sadly concluding. As my ratings indicate, Texas did not disappoint, and this particular single cask offering is no exception. The pour is exceptionally dark, hinting at the rich, decadent experience. Coffee, dark chocolate, intense baking spices, and rich oak lead the aroma. Dark fruits and nutty nougat are also present. The palate is impactful. Those dark notes are delivered with a thick, oily mouthfeel, featuring molasses, baked fruit, leather, tobacco, and a minty, peppery kick. A wonderful bourbon! And at just two years old, its richness and maturity are astonishing. I wish I could have sampled the Blue Corn Bourbon alongside this, but from what I recall, this is quite similar. My primary concern with it was the palate's youthful character, which this one entirely avoids. This is another outstanding single cask selection from a reputable provider and aligns with the quality I have come to expect from the distillery.

Two years can feel like an eternity or a blink of an eye, depending on the circumstances. Take my experience in business school, for instance. I was involved with someone for nearly two years (closer to one and three-quarters) who, unbeknownst to me at the time, worked as a stripper. Those two years felt too short; I wished they had stretched out for at least a decade. Conversely, some two-year periods drag on endlessly. Consider my initial job after college at a major pharmaceutical company. My daily task for eight hours was to restrain rhesus monkeys and compel them to urinate into test tubes. I'd then sterilize and dry the tubes, performing various unsettling procedures on these primates for the advancement of science. Eight hours daily, for two full, damn years. That's an instance where two years felt excessively long. This whiskey, a kind gift from a friend, exemplifies a perfect two-year maturation. It delivers waves of caramel and oak, with a strong hit of vanilla. While it might not possess the intricate layers of an ECBP or a Garrison Cowboy, it compensates with a vibrant, youthful energy. It ranks among the two finest Balcones expressions I've sampled, the other being a Balcones aged in tequila casks. My long-standing top pick in the American whiskey landscape has been Balcones, and this bottling stands as a prime example of their finest offerings.

Though consumed weeks ago and my review lost, this recollection aims to capture the essence. Compared directly to Balcones Blue Corn Bourbon, this offering presented as smoother and sweeter. It seemed to soften the sharper characteristics of the Blue Corn, even though it's younger. While this might imply a superior taste, Balcones sometimes embraces those rough edges as a defining trait. Perhaps the 2021 Peated might strike some as less engaging than the 2020 for a similar reason. Ultimately, this is on par with the Blue Corn, depending on whether a smoother profile or a more robust experience is desired. Gratitude to a friend for the sample.