Review #149 - Balcones Lineage
An American single malt from Texas, from one of the faces of Texas whisky: Balcones Distilling. Acquired by Diageo relatively recently, this distillery has been on the cutting edge of new whisky trends in the Lone Star state since 2009, when it was started in an old welding shop in Waco.
Balcones offers a huge variety of spirits: a Pot Still Bourbon, 100 Proof Rye, Baby Blue (Blue Corn), Brimstone (scrub oak smoked corn whisky), a 'classic edition' single malt, and innumerable special/limited releases, along with the whisky we're looking at today - The Lineage American single malt. It's made from a mixture of Texas-grown and Scottish-grown malted barley.
Like many whiskies from Texas, the maturation time isn't huge, due to the risk of over-oaking the spirit quite quickly. In this case, we get fine print on the back of the bottle which specifies this whisky has spent at least 36 months in oak, so a 3 year age statement. Both new charred oak and refill oak are used, supposedly to blend the styles of Texas whisky and traditional Scottish single malts.
Our journey through American single malts has taken us up and down, up and down - this is the first we've tried from Texas. Will this be one of the better ones the blossoming category has to offer, or will it fall flat?
Balcones Lineage
USA - Single Malt
Price Paid: USD 42 (2022)
Current Locally Available Price: USD 42 (2023)
Age Statement: 3 Years
Strength: 47% ABV
Details: Batch SML20-3
Tasting Methodology: Reviewed 4 times over 7 months; bottles at 100%, 90%, 80%, and 50% fill levels at times of review. Tasted in a Glencairn glass each time, rested 10-15 minutes
Nose: Quite grainy - malty and young, with barley sugar, brown sugar, and some clove. There's plenty of vanilla - that's the focus here - and then some young, dry oak, which turns slightly savory later. A hint of acetone/alcohol is present in the smells, and later, oats and honey come forward.
Palate: Medium mouthfeel, with quite a bit of oak up front - slightly astringent or sour, but then some sweeter wood sugars and vanilla come forward. Hints of orange peel and carbonated cream soda come and go, and the whole experience is pretty warm. On the back of the palate, more spice: cayenne pepper, anise, and more oak tannins mixed with dusty grain.
Finish: Warm, oaky, and the complexion softens a bit. The wood is lighter, with just hints of dry tannins, and the vanilla turns almost to an imitation vanilla. There are hints of metallic notes and molasses, freshly baked bread, nutmeg, and cayenne; the vanilla continues to sweeten, turning to vanilla bean ice cream.
Final Note: Young and grainy - it's hard to get away from the heavy oak influence despite the short maturation time. Some will enjoy that about Texas whiskies, but for us, the length of aging hasn't been long enough to tame the raw spirit notes, or to allow more complex flavors to develop. Relatively simple, but not a bad whisky, just a bit average; it's unlikely we'll pick up another bottle, given how many choices there are to try out there.
Our Average Rating: 5.3 / 10
In the current whisky landscape of increasing prices and variable quality, we've added a value rating to our reviews that relates to the score and the available pricing of each whisky. This roughly equates to a 0-10 scale; no reviews so far have exceeded a score of 10, although it is technically possible for the formula to produce a value rating higher than 10 with a high enough score and low enough price.
Value Rating: 6.06
