Though Balcones has a very wide portfolio with many takes on traditional American spirits staples like bourbon and rye, they are also don’t neglect one of the first things that put them on the map: their single malt. Having clearly invested in an American single malt from the beginning, time and continued experimentation has allowed them to craft various expressions of this cornerstone offering. For the distillery’s tenth anniversary in 2019, they released two single malts only available at the distillery store, both with cask finishes. The Balcones Brujeria, which approximately translates to “witchcraft” or “witchery”, is finished in a mix of ex-Oloroso and PX sherry casks.
Distillery: Balcones
Region: Foreign
Age: NAS
Strength: 62.9%
Price: $129.00
Maturation: ex-Oloroso and PX sherry casks
Location: Waco, TX
Nose: Brown sugar, cherry, smoke, sherry, plum, nectarine, marzipan,
Palate: Sherry, brown sugar, oak, brine, medicinal, wintergreen, iodine
Finish: Wintergreen, oak, cherry,
Comments: Adding water makes the nose more floral, with creamy toffee. You can smell the grain a bit more. The palate is oakier, however.
Adam – It might be easy to take a whiff of the Balcones Brujeria and get blasted by the alcohol or even go beyond that and only detect a panoply of sweetness. But there’s more there, and patience is rewarded. Stone fruit and citrus mingle with brown sugar wreathed with smoke, always with the acid tinge of sherry. Breathe deeply enough through your nostrils and you’ll feel it in the back of your mouth. Mercifully, the complexity of the nose translates directly to the palate with big, bold sugar and sherry on the tongue with a little brine that transforms into a narrower but still strident wintergreen and cherry in the finish. A long, warm finish that sits in your chest a while. I enjoy this straight out of the bottle, as I have with everything from Balcones so far, but it is understandable if you want to add a few drops of water since the proof is so high. Water narrows the nose but opens up the palate to some more floral elements that weren’t there before, along with adding a creaminess that combines the sherry and brown sugar into a baked toffee. And the wintergreen really hangs around in your mouth afterwards too. Really charming.
The palate is like a comic book panel. Gazam! Bazow!
Ben – If I could get cocktail cherries to smell like this when I opened the container, I would buy those. This is delightful, like smelling dessert. It’s like some kind of illegal animal fighting going on in my mouth. I love it. With water, the flavor spreads out. It’s like a runway.
Kate – The palate is like a comic book panel. Gazam! Bazow! Oh, but I like the finish. It’s oaky and sweet and makes me think of some really good rums I’ve tasted in the Virgin Islands. I’m transported to a beach in St. Lucia right now. If I’m going to drink a whisky of comic-con, this is it for me. It’s brazen in the same way that comics can be. The flavors are competing but I kind of I like it.
Henry – Cherry, oak, and sweet almond with undertones of dark brown sugar on the nose. Sweet orange and cherry wood is the very first thing I get on the nose before it gets more complex. The first thing I smell is the citrus. The Balcones Brujeria is not a subtle spirit. Dry, toasty oak, cherry wood, with a hint of light wintergreen on the palate, it reminds me of some of my favorite old rums. Cedar and oak join with the cherry on the finish. This is a cigar malt to die for, and although it’s over 60% ABV, it tastes bold, not rough or hot. Simply fantastic, although there’s nothing simple about it.
