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.
I have a very large whisk(e)y collection. Bottles from all over the world and all over the price range. Brimstone is easily my favorite as far as a daily dram. The smoke in the nose is nothing like peat smoke. It smells like the end of a good barbecue session. It will leave that smell on your upper lip too. For me, the palate is less meaty than it is for others, but hints of bacon are certainly there. I taste bbq squash with some brown sugar and butter. Some sweet potato poking through from time to time. The charcoal bbq smoke that I smelled in the nose comes through on the palate as well. All with pleasing viscosity. The finish is warm, soothing if you will. It lingers with more brown sugar and butter. A hint of a spice I honestly cant place, but it sits well in the finish. I love this whisky, and though I can see how this would not be for everyone, I can't see the word disgusting being an appropriate description on any level.
I'm not sure what that guy is thinking but this is a great whisky. Smoke is very nice and has a lot of flavors to play with. Medium finish and it definitely reminds me of camping in Colorado. Definitely different from a traditional Islay but a great whisky to drink from time to time.
To start with... just look at the bottle. It looks mean doesn’t it? Menacing in an arm around the shoulder, “You respect me...I won’t beat the crap out of you,” kind of way. She’s crackling already with secrets and potential. Popping the cork and she rushes at you, a rampaging pack of wildebeest, and that is the first strike. Meat! Loads of it! Fleshy bacon and rich leather. Plenty of smoke for sure, but smouldering varieties, like a box of musty old books thrown onto a barbeque that’s halfway through roasting a juicy, succulent pig. Popcorn and ripe oranges that bask in the sun, join the barn dance but with a non-VIP invitation. Well...to be honest I was only halfway through the nose notes when the glass slipped (oops!) and spilled its thick chewy contents into my laughing gear. It’s got as much bollocks as an American muscle car. You can chew on this for ages, like peppered jerky. The wood and pig are still there, but in a maple cured capacity. Dry chocolate and rare black pudding blindly search for each other in the hellish depths of the fire. The crust of a bad-ass blue cheese is peeling away from its home and avalanches into the sea of salt that lingers. Dominican cigars and the velvet of an LBV Port come to mind. Sit back and re-enter reality...we’ve got a live-wire on our tongues. You can’t shake its evolving nature. There’s Bovril on the finish now and a gummy hot sauce itching away. A perfect horse-back journey, from sweet-corn to dry dark chocolate.
It had alot of smoke and charcoal to it. It was like the taste of grilled meat and some sweet carolina sauce really hits you
Just had a sample of this recently. First of all I LOVE peaty whisky. This however is foul, tastes like someone has taken a burnt twig broke it up and rammed it in the glass. It also has the mouth feel of charcoal. Easily up there with some of the worst whisky I've ever tasted. Seems to me smoking the whisky is total gimmick.
