Nose: Warm leather, chess pie, werther’s original caramel hard candy.
Palate: Hot, trademark balcones sourness with a serving of brown sugar sweetness, very very minty with a large sip. Orange peel Relatively intense yet simple.
Rating: 5 / 10
Nose: Green papaya, packing tape, green peppercorn, varnish
Palate: Stronnng wood, cardboard and tape, grapefruit peel, slightly astringent, earl grey tea.
Rating: 5 (Ryan) 6 (Shane) / 10
Nose: Coriander, verbena / mintyness you get with rye, white pepper, pine, pumpernickel, vanilla, chestnuts, a strange avian quality I get from wild birds… is it fowl? And an herbal tea vibe, hints of mulled wine – lemon peel.
Palate: There is a really nice toasted quality that comes across in the rye, lemon notes, varnish, pomegranate. Cardboard. Finish is super milk chocolate.
Rating: 6 (Ryan) 5 (Shane) / 10 – this is really weird and complex and uncomfortable. I would never buy a bottle (Shane) but it’s an adventure.
Nose: Corn, grainy, dinner rolls, dried grapefruit peel.
Palate: Big rounded oak, celery, leather, very velvety.
Rating: 6 / 10 – more elegant than many, more rounded
Nose: Caramel, nutty, bread pudding, caramelized banana, lotus biscoff cookie spread
Palate: Everything on the nose and then an intense bitterness. It works but a bummer.. Finish is just the biscoff cookie vibe
Rating: 6 / 10
Nose: Orange peel, shop dust, cherry, sugary frosting, vanilla bean, almond biscotti.
Palate: Orange bitters, big oak bites, celery, cedar, cigar tobacco.
Rating: 6 / 10
Nose: Fig sap, grassy, lemon grass, honey, that nice little sour note from a bourbon barrel, camphor.
Palate: In line with the nose, ends on the sour grassy oaky note, bell peppers.
Rating: 5 / 10 – want to love it more than we do, but it doesn’t stand out, meh. I used to love this bottle… but palates change with time.
Nose: Gingerbread, pecans, sugar cookie, cherry panettone, sourdough
Palate: Milk chocolate cherries, oatmeal, lemon drops.
Rating: 5 / 10 – fine for an affordable bottle.
Nose: Boiled peanuts, barley sweets, caramel cream puddings sojourn has before judo, charred matches after they burn out, subtle elderflower
Palate: Salinity of good salted roasted peanuts, rich mouthfeel, barley sweeties, strong oak.
Rating: 7 (Shane) 6 (Ryan) / 10 – this is quite nice. I’d drink it again with bells on. Its too much oak for Ryan.
Nose: Orange peel, lime zest, apple, light cloves and cinnamon, creme brulee with raspberries on it, fennel bulb, lightest touch of dill
Palate: Pink peppercorn, medjool dates, leather, cinnamon, toasted sesame, turmeric.
Rating: 5 (Ryan) 7 (Shane) / 10 – a great interwoven and oaky complex pour. Love it.
Nose: Sweet sweet port, sweet ‘n sour chicken.
Palate: Cedar, that Balcones sour note dna, heavy oak. From the nose I was expecting more dark fruit but it didn’t carry through as much as I wanted.
Rating: 6 / 10
Nose: Dusty, leeks, willow bark, soldering, grains
Palate: Chalk, kale, turkey broth, copper penny.
Rating: 5 / 10 – interesting but not yummy. What a difference between the older bottles. Those were so sweet and is so different
Nose: Chardonnay grapes, unripe white peaches, honeycomb, cinnamon simple syrup, copper, penny, rye, tonic
Palate: Ginger chews, quinine, white peach tea, grapes
Rating: 6 / 10 – a really simple lovely pour. Nice balance of fruit and spice.
Nose: Raw and intense oak, vanilla and brown sugar. My daughter thinks it smells like peaches cooked in maple syrup. Technically she said stone fruits (proud papa moment) and then I asked her to elaborate. I always find Stagg has a note of dark cherries and this holds to the party line. Allspice and mint tobacco. They opened a shisha shop down the road and I often smell the flavored tobacco on the boardwalk. A base camphor note that approaches carob. Every time I smell this, I feel like it should come with a track record of cicadas.
Palate: Tonight this tastes wonderful. First off, it freaking burns. And I literally want to open my own bar called cask strength and most of my friends tease me that if it isn’t over 60% I might find it vapid. But dang 2020 is punchy tonight. The heat radiates mingling with the taste and it works. Intense madagascar vanilla. Cinnamon strudel. Slightly burnt buttermilk pancakes which had a heavy hand of baking soda. Cherries and more cherries. Cola concentrate. I like how well it coats my entire mouth without being goopy. The finish is herbal and even though I know the rye content is low, it plays its part.
Rating: 7 / 10 – GTS is without question the least subtle and most intense of the BTAC. As a woodophile, I can jive with it. I definitely prefer 2020 over 2019 & 2018.
Nose: Flat old cherry cola, fresh lumber and intense oak, acetone, and caramelized figs. Brown sugar and vanilla. Candied pecans. Sweet apple cider vinegar based bbq sauce. Blondie brownie. This bottle has been open for a few years now and only about a quarter full, nose is more muted than I recall.
Palate: Woody beast front and center, vanilla/amaretto extract including on the mouthfeel. Crushed almonds and bubble gum on the long finish. Same goes here, a bit less gusto than I recall.
Rating: 6 / 10 – This is right on the edge for my upper limit on wood intensity I can enjoy. I remember doing the go stand in line for the allocated bottle thing for this. It’s good, especially at the retail price, but if I could go back in time, I’d probably trade up.
Begin typing your search above and press return to search. Press Esc to cancel.
