I’ve tried Balcones’ True Blue whiskey before, about 2 years ago. Back then I wasn’t thrilled but at least it was better than the Baby Blue. I don’t think the sample has been finished and it might just be sitting upstairs waiting for something to happen to it.

This batch is two years newer (bottled on 2012-12-21) and a little less high in ABV. Of course, that doesn’t say anything since the process should be the same and the only difference is maturation. Of course, that is the only major difference. A cask does a lot of tricks. Now I could get into all kinds of details about how the batch of blue corn, the temperature and humidity during fermentation, distillation and maturation are all different, but frankly, I don’t care.

The whiskey, like most other non-single malt products from Balcones is made with Texan Blue Corn, and as far as I know they’re the only guys doing that. So, some kudos are in order.

Balcones True Blue. Yes, it’s the wrong version. This is the 100 proof.

Sniff:
Huh? This doesn’t remind in any way of the first time I tried this series. There’s nuts, a rich sweetness with dried apricots and oak. Of course, it’s sharp but it smells of whiskey instead of some nasty by product. Almond M&Ms and almond paste.

Sip:
Rich and very sharp. The 58 percents are all accounted for. Corn syrup, warm and sweet. A little simple on the palate.

Swallow:
The finish is rather long and comparable with the palate. Rather spicy and spirity, with a touch of greasiness to it.

While this will not be my favourite whiskey, it’s definetly a LOT better than it was a couple of years ago. I’m very curious to trying a lot of their other stuff but for some reason I’m not getting around to it. Gal brought me a couple samples when he came to Maltstock last year (like this one) and I’m curious to try their Single Malts and maybe some slightly older versions of this.

Anyway, good stuff, something different for sure but a lot better than a lot of other ‘craft whiskies’ out there. The drawback, of course, is that the stuff is pretty expensive in Europe.

Balcones True Blue, TB-12-6, bottled on December 21st in 2012.

Thanks to Gal for the sample!