Balcones Brimstone Smoked Whiskey
This one-of-a-kind whisky is smoked with sun-baked Texas
scrub oak using our own secret process. The result is a whisky full of
fresh, youthful corn and light fruit notes married with a bold smokiness.
Whether you like smoky whiskies, or just have a penchant for big, new
flavors, Brimstone is sure to be a memorable pour. Aromas of masa, Texas
campfire and powdered sugar backed by stone fruit, peppery spice, and mint.
Bold yet balanced, Brimstone is yet another Texas original from Balcones.
Balcones Brimstone is made
by mashing and fermenting the corn, and distilling the resulting wash twice
through Tate's copper-pot stills. Following distillation, Tate smokes the
distillate the whisky that is produced after distillation but before
maturation with sun-baked Texas scrub oak using a proprietary process that remains
a closely-guarded secret. While a number of distilleries smoke grains prior to
distilling them peated Scotch, for instance, is made by smoking barley over a
peat flame Tate smokes the distillate that is produced after the wash passes
through the still.
The proprietary process
results in a whisky that has a unique flavor profile the Texas scrub oak adds
notes of bacon, barbecue and pulled pork to the whisky. The notes of barbecue
and brisket are bold but not overpowering. Rather, they complement flavors of
chili pepper, brown sugar, cinnamon and graham crackers. After the distillate
is smoked, it is aged in lightly charred, American oak barrels before each
bottle is filled and labeled by hand. Balcones Brimstone earned a score of 95.5
points from Jim Murray's Whisky Bible and the title
"Best in Category" at the American Distilling Institute Competition
in 2012.
NOSE
confectioners' sugar, cold-smoked butter, corn husk, BBQ
pit, stone fruit, chili peppers and graham crackers
TASTE
candied oak smoke, English pipe tobacco, butter, orange
marmalade, fruit cocktail, sweet tea, chili peppers
FINISH
long dry finish, herbal/mint ends in a mineralness as
smoke returns