Whisky Discovery #322

Balcones Rumble NAS (Distilled Spirit 47% abv)

Texan distilled spirit

Not available in the UK yet

Get ready to Rumble!

Running in the order Chip developed them, next up on this Balcones Whisky Mission comes Rumble, which although is not a whisky, was first introduced at the same time as Baby Blue in September 2009.

Balcones Rumble is a one-of-a-kind Texas spirit made from the finest local wildflower honey, mission figs, turbinado sugar and natural Texas Hill Country spring water and aged to perfection in small oak barrels. Rumble defies categorisation, both in ingredients as well as the final product. It has elements reminiscent of tequila, scotch, young cognac and rum.

So What Did I Think?

Wow! This is really interesting and when first poured in the glass has a new leather nose to it. This quickly settles to be oozing with sweet honey and soft fruits; peaches and yellow plums. There are floral notes of nasturtiums and pelargoniums (what we used to incorrectly call geraniums when we were kids). There’s even a hint of mint and some hand-rolling tobacco too.

The palate opens up with a slightly sour or tart grapefruit like note which wakens the taste buds while the liquid gently softens with more honey and fruit by way of dates this time. The hint of mint from the nose is more prominent in the mouth. The tart grapefruit note is not as pronounced on the second sip as though the initial hit readied the taste buds for what was to come. There’s some herbal notes too, a slight fennel/ aniseed like taste.

The new leather note that opened the nose returns on the lingering finish, with white pepper, rye like spice, the mint remains throughout and then much later an oily taste, what I initially thought as diesel like and even slightly metallic, which although sounds wrong, is strangely not! However popping a couple of brazil nuts into my mouth the following evening, I quickly realised that it was a brazil nut taste I was getting - not the taste of the nut itself, but the taste of the dark brown skin of the nut, that was more like the taste I was getting.

This distilled spirit has elements, just as Chip described, of many traditional distilled spirits, and aged (Añejo) Tequila, A Scotch whisky or indeed a rum, and is very refreshing. I wonder if this will be coming to the UK sometime soon? Look out for Chip and Balcones at Whisky Live London on 22nd and 23rd March and if there's some Rumble out for tasting, you really should!

Many thanks to Johanne McInnis (@Whiskylassie) of The Perfect Whisky Match for sending samples