Whisky Discovery #347

Balcones Rumble Cask Reserve NAS (58.4% abv)

Texan distilled spirit

Not available in the UK yet

So onto our penultimate dram of our Balcones Whisky Mission, Spirit Number six is 'Rumble Cask Reserve' first launched in November 2011. This is a real bonus as I doubt many will get to taste this limited release. 

Chip explains "While making the rounds of tasting our barrels, I discovered a cache of older Rumble casks that had been all but forgotten. The spirit inside was remarkable - rich, delicious, and unique. I carefully mingled the best of these barrels to create Rumble Cask Reserve.  The result is so special I think it deserves to be preserved in its natural state - unfiltered and at full barrel proof. Each Rumble Cask Reserve bottling is very small and is meant to express different facets of this unique spirit. I hope you enjoy the differences between each bottling of this Texas innovation as much as you enjoy the spirit inside the bottle."

If you read my earlier post on Balcones Rumble, you'll have read that this 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 all aged in small oak barrels. 

So What Did We Think?

The colour of this is rich and dark and with a very similar profile to the Rumble tasted alongside it. There are similar notes in both but the Cask Reserve Rumble has the flavours more accentuated, it tastes and feels different, slightly richer and more special.

The nose opens quite astringent at first, probably due to the higher abv, but it quickly settles down once the initial burn has evaporated off. The new leather note from Rumble has aged. The nose is still oozing with sweet honey, but there's more depth to it now, darker, richer, treacle-like with more of an aged Demerara rum note. The tobacco notes are richer too, more pipe tobacco than hand rolling tobacco. Yet underneath these rich and dark notes there appears to be some sharper fresher notes, zesty almost.

Left in the glass the nose evolves and becomes a little smoky, like a damp wood fire. Rich aniseed notes develop, as does smell of a tarpaulin, and old musty canvas tarpaulin or tent from boy scout camping trips. 


The palate is smoother than the Rumble, the slightly tart note has gone and, initially much sweeter and more like the aged Demerara rum we experienced a little while back. Spicy oak quickly coats the mouth and builds to a chilli-heat like burn before settling back to the sweeter notes, slightly smoky with lovely rich liquorice note and some richer fruit, like a baked pear with burnt sugar on top.

The finish is long and lingering, cloves come to mind, and there's a sweet yet earthy charred wood note that slowly fades as the tannins dry the mouth

Look out for Chip and Balcones at Whisky Live London on 22nd and 23rd March and if there's some Rumble Cask Reserve out for tasting, you really would be silly to pass on this, it is a great experience.

Many thanks to Johanne McInnis (@Whiskylassie) of The Perfect Whisky Match for sending samples and providing the bottle photographs

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