This release is part of Balcones’ limited (and they do mean limited) release of five single barrel expressions to celebrate the fifth anniversary of the Distillery’s operations. Among this bottling of Straight Single Malt, the Fifth Anniversary series includes two releases of Texas Straight Bourbon; a special, one-off version of their Brimstone, named Resurrection; and a second bottling of Straight Single Malt that was finished in the Resurrection cask (apply designated as Straight Single Malt—Smoke).

All of Balcones’ single malt batches are grain to glass, twice distilled in traditional copper pots which were hand crafted by Balcones’ Head Distiller, Chip Tate. Tate, whom interned at the Bruichladdich Distillery, distills his whiskies in the traditional Scottish-style, which includes the use of imported Golden Promise malted barley from a small farm in the UK. The traditional distilling methods are the foundation upon which Tate has crafted a unique wood program to utilize the Texas heat in the maturation process which he hopes will create a new category of brown spirits: Texas Whisky.

Continue reading the review of Balcones Fifth Anniversary Texas Straight Malt Whisky–Sweet.

It was fourteen years ago this month, June 26, 1999 — a few weeks before my 22nd birthday, that I was first introduced to whisky by my father; the event was my wedding reception. Having just finished the traditional customs of dancing, cutting cake, and throwing my new wife's lacy undergarments at my best men; my father, grand-father, and I retired to the venue's balcony to toast my nuptials. Overlooking the skyline of downtown San Antonio, and trying our best not to to spontaneously combust in the more than 100°F Texas heat, my father produced a bundle of Padrón cigars (@PadronCigar) and ordered us a dram of scotch whisky; his whisky of choice? The Glenlivet (@The_Glenlivet). So, it's poetic that exactly fourteen years after I took my first step into the world of whisky that I've been asked to review a new expression from my 'first-love' and that it's name, Alpha (α), is Greek for "the beginning".

Continue reading the review of The Glenlivet Alpha α.

Say it with me, T-A-S-M-A-N-I-A-N whisky — an expression from 'down-under'! The Lark distillery is located in the town of Hobart, Tasmania, and only produces a little over 14,000 liters annually. This was a bottle I had to track down, but with the help of Lark's Master Distiller, Chris Thomson, I was able to special order a bottle towards the end of 2012. Lark is a unique whisky from Tasmania, that uses a specially developed Tasmanian barley and smoked using locally cultivated peat — yes, you ready that right bog heads, Tasmanian peat! The provenance of the ingredients in combination with the maturation in 100 liter Port Quarter Casks creates a whisky that is sweet and fruity, while a smokiness wafts around the edges. I had planned on reviewing the Cask Strength Lark during my Christmas break, but a sudden outbreak of the flu brought to our house by visiting family put off my plans until February of this year.

Continue reading the review of Lark Cask Strength.