American craft distiller Balcones created this smoky corn whisky, fittingly named the Brimstone, by smoking the whisky itself rather than the grain. It is innovative techniques such as this which are creating a buzz around American whisk(e)y at the moment.
Barbecue, steaks, brown sugar, raisins, honey roast pork. It's all there, a Texan aroma for a Texan whisky.
Peppery and sweet in equal quantities with some herbal undertones and BBQ sauce overtones.
The finish is like a pepper-rubbed steak with a little charcoal too!
What's not to like about this big smoky whisky? Brimstone is an incredibly apt name for this barbecue of a dram. There is no pretension here.
Tastes like burnt plastic, horribly overpriced and not pleasant to any sense. After tasting the same distillery's delicious baby blue corn whiskey I expected so much more but this is just abysmal. Undrinkable under any circumstance. Tried to dilute with water, with ice, with coke even, and it does not get any better. Makes me sad every time glancing the bottle in my cabinet.
Try this first - it's not to everyone's taste. I tried it at a trade show and thought it was utter garbage. And I mean absolutely undrinkable. Awful, almost synthetic nose and on the palate it was completely unremarkable. Massively offputting rubbish in my opinion but by all means give it a go...
Nose : rubber Initial taste : burning tires and other rubbish Finish : Yuck. I prefer heavily peated whisk(e)y but good gawd this was bad.
Not an everyday drink, Brimstone does not have the peaty smokiness of say Lagavulin. It does have the fire-smoked flavor of Lapsang Souchong tea. This is something very different in the world of corn whiskey. This is something you need to be in the mood for, and when the mood strikes you, there is nothing better.
Even without the scrub oak addition, this is a well made and pretty smooth corn whiskey. The smokiness is not as strong as you'd expect and hits you during the palate and not really at the finish, less like a scotch. The overall mouthfeel and flavor are missing something, but this one is so novel you probably won't notice. I enjoyed this with peppermint chocolate, raspberries, and nutty cheese. A fun whiskey.
