Balcones Texas Single Malt - Mirador

Volume: 0.7 litres | Alcohol content: 53% | Chill filtration: No

Special Features:

For Mirador, Balcones combines Golden Promise malted barley with maturation in previously used oak casks. This cask choice lends a gentler wood influence, giving its fruity and herbal notes room to emerge.

The whisky is bottled at 53% alcohol in 0.7-litre bottles. It is neither chill-filtered nor coloured.

Tasting Notes:

• Nose: The nose opens with unripe pear, green apple peel and plant stems. Honeysuckle and fallen leaves emerge next, followed by honey, brown sugar and soft suede.
• Palate: On the palate, green fruit mingles with green tea and honey, with subtle accents of fennel and lemongrass. With exposure to air, the fruit sweetness becomes more concentrated and combines with gentle spice. This brings impressions of apple pie with lemon cream and fruit salad with marshmallows and pecans. A Rusty Nail with a cucumber garnish also comes to mind.
• Finish: A lively citrus note lifts the rich sweetness of the finish. It becomes drier, revealing sandalwood and jam before ending with Earl Grey.

Distillery/Bottler:

Balcones was founded in 2008 in Waco, Texas, initially in a converted welding workshop beneath a bridge. Distillation began in 2009. The distillery later moved into the former Texas Fireproof Storage Company building. Built in 1923, it underwent conversion from 2014 and opened to visitors in late 2016.

The team's brewing experience informs its approach to fermentation. Balcones adjusts time and temperature to each recipe to encourage the formation of fruity and floral aroma compounds. Slow, batch distillation takes place in copper pot stills made by Forsyths in Scotland. Alongside the Texas heat, rapid temperature fluctuations influence maturation by increasing the interaction between whisky and cask wood. Before blending, the team assesses each cask individually by nosing and tasting.

Facts: