Balcones Rumble Cask Reserve Review

On Tuesday I had the distinct pleasure of tasting a sample of Balcones Rumble Cask Reserve. If you aren't familiar with Balcones, you should be.  Balcones is a seriously up and coming micro-distillery out of Central Texas.  They have pretty good market penetration here in Washington, DC, as their products are available in many of the higher end liquor stores around the city.

Rumble Cask Reserve is a cask strength version of Rumble.  It is a seriously unique whiskey, if that's what it can be described as.  It is a spirit made from "...the finest local wildflower honey, mission figs, turbinado sugar, and natural Texas hill country water..."  They age the spirit in a small barrel, which can be a double  edged sword, but they've pulled this one off.

Nose:  Honey, some grassiness, and a sweet note that I couldn't quite place.  It's floral/honey notes got stronger the more I nosed it.

Taste: A very full mouth feel upon entry, with the honey notes prominent.  Tastes almost like a sweet scotch as it has some of that earthiness often found in scotch. On the second sip I got some barrel influence that nicely balanced out the sweetness.  I also got some honey wheat bread flavors.

Finish: The finish lingered on the horizontal middle of my tongue.  It was like a small honeycomb was just sitting there.

Overall: I rate this out as an 88. I think this is something of a mood spirit that almost directly splits the difference between bourbon and scotch.  It's sweet but earthy, and I'll be picking up a bottle soon.

Many thanks to @Connoissaurus for sending me the sample!