Balcones: Next stop, world domination?

[MyOldKyDram]

NOT THE RUMBLE.

I've enjoyed everything else of theirs I've tried. Of those I'd go for the True Blue CS. My fave is the single malt, however.

[ChainWhip]

Definitely scratch the Brimstone off your list - that's a polarizing expression and would be a good one to try before buying.

I can't say I like any of them and I've tried them all except the Rumble... That said, I'll probably give it a go again to see if my palate's more amenable to the Balcones profile now.

[Balcones Winston]

Picked up the Single Malt today, and man it's got a kick. A good kick.

I'm not wise enough to give proper tasting notes, but will say it hits me like a mix of High West Campfire and Four Roses. To echo some of timd's earlier notes, not a scotch for sure, but reminds me of some of the other regional whisky products i've had like Mackmyra from Sweden.

I've now tried the Baby Blue and the Single Malt, and both seem perfect for tasting while grilling out. keep up the good work guys!

[Balcones Winston]

I've had my interest piqued in Balcones for a while, and my local store has True Blue Cask Strength, Baby Blue, Brimstone, and Rumble, and all are priced at $60 (Baby Blue is $50). I'm most interested in the Single Malt, but I can't find it in NOLA.

I'm usually a try before I buy whiskey shopper, but if I threw caution to the wind and had to choose between these 4 options, would anyone care to recommend one?

[Trey Manthey]

Does Dave Martin's still give out samples?

[Trey Manthey]

Thanks for the responses! I'm going to try the True Blue Cask Strength and the Brimstone.

[Balcones Winston]

Definitely scratch the Brimstone off your list - that's a polarizing expression and would be a good one to try before buying.

I can't say I like any of them and I've tried them all except the Rumble... That said, I'll probably give it a go again to see if my palate's more amenable to the Balcones profile now.

[squire]

Showing my age Trey, we called it Dave Martin's back in the old days. I went there with my Dad in the 60's when Mr. Dave was still running the place.

[Trey Manthey]

Hmm...I checked the bottling dates on the stuff on the shelf and it was all from 2011. The Rumble was $50, btw. Anyway, I am going to try another place in town that opened last summer to try to get a newer bottle considering the batch variation.

[wadewood]

We're constantly working to improve the quality of our products. We blind taste each new batch against the previous one to make sure it's better than the last! If you're game, give a more recent batch a try and see if it's more to your liking. You might be surprised

[portwood]

We're constantly working to improve the quality of our products. We blind taste each new batch against the previous one to make sure it's better than the last! If you're game, give a more recent batch a try and see if it's more to your liking. You might be surprised

Edited June 3, 2013 by portwood

[Trey Manthey]

They're taking a page out of the software industry playbook - it made Bill Gates a multi-billionaire & many of his employees millionaires, maybe it can work for Chip Tait and the rest of the balconites:slappin:

Alright, enough from the peanut gallery. You are not really contributing to the conversation.

[theglobalguy]

Alright, enough from the peanut gallery. You are not really contributing to the conversation.

Agreed, and i might add i respect anyone regardless of industry and profession who strives to make the next batch/job/project better than the current one. Short of the mass produced products from the publicly traded companies where consistency is the expectation, everyone who isn't trying to get better may as well find a new career as they won't last long.

[callmeox]

With something as subjective as the taste of a whiskey, how does one make a batch better than the last? That's the part that sounds like marketing fluff to me.

[Trey Manthey]

With something as subjective as the taste of a whiskey, how does one make a batch better than the last? That's the part that sounds like marketing fluff to me.

That sounds like the job of a master distiller to me! Although I suppose we are at the mercy of his palate to determine the direction the batches go.

[squire]

I appreciate their efforts to keep improving but I'm not contributing $65 a bottle to their learning curve.

[squire]

Trey I suggest the title master distiller is being debased into a marketing term.

[Trey Manthey]

Perhaps you are right, but from what I can tell, Chip is pretty active in creating the juice, from grain to bottle.

[squire]

Knowing how it's done doesn't make one a master at it. Thousands of people can make a bamboo fly rod from raw cane to finished product but there are only a few masters of the craft.

[Balcones Winston]

Agreed, and i might add i respect anyone regardless of industry and profession who strives to make the next batch/job/project better than the current one. Short of the mass produced products from the publicly traded companies where consistency is the expectation, everyone who isn't trying to get better may as well find a new career as they won't last long.

Thank you.

Also, by saying we're working to improve our product I don't mean to imply that our current product is or ever was bad (it may not be for you, and that's understandable). Fact is Balcones has received critical acclaim from across the world and we literally cannot make enough whiskey to supply the ferocious demand for our product. But that doesn't mean we're just going to plateau here and not seek to better ourselves. We're always experimenting, always learning, always looking for something new and interesting to introduce to our spirits. We've actively pioneered new horizons in whisky making that have been recognized by experts all over, and we have a BIG list of ideas that we're still waiting to test out.

[Trey Manthey]

Knowing how it's done doesn't make one a master at it. Thousands of people can make a bamboo fly rod from raw cane to finished product but there are only a few masters of the craft.

Yes, and out of those "masters" there can be only one "head master" at any given time. And even he must battle other head masters from all of history to determine who makes the best bamboo fly rod of all time, and only that one head master will be named the Grand Head Master. What's your point?

To be fair, Chip's title is "head distiller."

[Balcones Winston]

With something as subjective as the taste of a whiskey, how does one make a batch better than the last? That's the part that sounds like marketing fluff to me.

Hard to explain short of actually bringing you in for a blending session. Picking and mingling barrels sounds easy but I promise you it's not, blending successfully requires a highly trained palate and a solid understanding of aroma and flavor chemistry. Each barrel has its own character, and when working with such a small quantity of them you have to be quite mindful of how they're going to interact. (To paraphrase an analogy from Chip, some barrels could be potatoes and several others could be salt. You add too much salt and your potatoes don't taste good anymore)

Chip has the most well-trained palate of anyone I have ever met. He can literally break the aroma components of a whisky down to the biochemical level with his nose (not an exaggeration, come to the distillery and I'll show you our distiller's nosing kit for some fun). He can then, like a composer penning multiple lines of music at once, mix barrels together in his mind as if they were individual instruments in a symphonic composition. Much in the same way that some instruments can crowd out other ones in a piece of music, the same is true for the ester profiles of individual casks that go into the blend. Aroma masking, among other phenomena, is important to consider. The desired result is something balanced that expresses the best qualities of each barrel.

As previously mentioned, a new blend is tested against the previous. This means that if for any reason the new blend is any less stunning than the last, we will start from scratch and try again until we nail it. No marketing fluff about it, this is just how we do things.

[Balcones Winston]

Trey I suggest the title master distiller is being debased into a marketing term.

That sounds like the job of a master distiller to me! Although I suppose we are at the mercy of his palate to determine the direction the batches go.

Chip actively shies away from "Master" distiller. He is our head distiller, for all intents and purposes.

Perhaps you are right, but from what I can tell, Chip is pretty active in creating the juice, from grain to bottle.

He created the recipes. He developed the process. He built the pot stills himself out of sheet copper. He personally tastes each barrel and mingles the batches himself. And, when he has time, he runs every other facet of the distillery from marketing to finance. To say he's active in creating the juice is a gross understatement

To be fair, Chip's title is "head distiller."

Exactly. He's a modest guy.

Edited June 3, 2013 by Balcones Winston

[Yeti]

Balcones Texas Single Malt is an absolute treat. Great flavor profile and a generous proof. I look forward to further age and development.

[squire]

What's your point?

That there are few Master Craftsmen which I believe is evident from my post.