Balcones Texas Rum

Review by Frank

Most helpful positive review

Frank

Oct 2022729 reviews

8.5/10

Brought back from the USA last week. Hard to find, probably got the last two bottles in SFO 😎. Here batch 20-1 with 62%. Rum from Texas? That's quite extraordinary!Nose: nice intense/full-bodied. Spicy-woody, slightly smoky and also fruity-sweet. Reminds clearly of bourbon (Virgin Oak, American whitish!). Delicious maple syrup and honey with molasses and nougat. Slightly hazelnut at the back. Now there's a slight vinegar-wine note as well. On fruit, there's a mix of banana, papaya and cassis with tangerine. Then tobacco, wood and caramel with caraway assert themselves. I like it a lot.Palate: powerful and intense, salty-sour, toasty-woody. Dry and distinctly oak. Not quite as layered as the nose. Molasses, nut, tobacco leaves, bourbon.Very positive.

Review by Rowald Sweet Empire

Most helpful mixed review

Rowald Sweet Empire

Dec 2023430 reviewsNetherlands

7.8/10

Balcones make excellent whisky. I like their "true blue" blue corn whisky a lot. I tried some of their rum aged stuff too. Now they released the rum itself. Let's see... The nose is sort of closed. I get linoleum. Caramel. Burnt sugar. Not particulairly outspoken. In taste: same flavours. Bitterness. Cocao. Espresso. Lots of wood. Woodspices. No fruit here. Somehow lightness too. Less heavy than you would expect for 60+abv%. Very wooddriven. Slight acidity in the finish (like espresso). Can't really say anything about its spirit. To me this is not overly interesting. Rum for bourbon/whiskydrinkers. No funk whatsoever (which is okay obviously). Not bad, but also nothing special. Almost no rum at all. Revisit: much fruitier

Review by Lukas Jäger

Rum from Texas, that's so unusual that I have to try it. Perfect, if then just someone stays in the U.S., who also brings this. First Batch 20-1:For me very exciting and tasty, that much is already said. Otherwise hard to pigeonhole, but that's a good thing. On the nose, it seems like a mature Spanish at first, but then I notice a different impact. Maybe it's imagination because of the origin, but I have to think of bourbon!On the palate then full load of flavor, the 62% deliver well and in the short time came a lot of flavor from the (virgin) wood. Crass, what goes in such a short time after all. Overall, not quite as harmonious and the alcohol is definitely present, but with these marginal data may also be. I like!