It's a secret Dept: Balcones' barrels

What is feckin whiskey doing on the net's leading independent rum website? There's a reason, read on, but it's not my fault! Honest...
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Capn Jimbo
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Post by Capn Jimbo »

To expose the dark corners of the warehouse to a bit of cleansing sunshine...


To put things in perspective, consider that in his videos Tate refers to "thousands" of his micro-barrels. Bear reports a statement to the effect that about 50% of his production is being set aside in large barrels for "maturation". Balcones so far avoids any discussion of wood, an error in my view.

I raised a few questions about what this actually means in the post just above, but let's try to put this in perspective. If it means he is actually setting aside 50% of all his production, which he states requires "thousands of (micro) barrels". Let's say 2,000 micro-barrels (used for a year or less) - if half of his production is then going into large barrels (say a standard 53 gallon), that would imply that he'd have set aside about 190 large barrels each year for what he is calling "maturation". We'd expect to see the growing number of large barrels in the warehouse.

I don't - not in his videos, nor the few snapshots taken by Bear or Whiskey Women, et al. I've tried. What I do see is smattering of large barrels, and remember it's fair to assume that a number of large barrels are used for temporary vatting of the micro-barreled product on its way to bottling.

Thus the term "maturation" may actually be a relative of "marrying", which would imply that 50% of his product is not set aside for real aging, but passes through large wood in the same way that big distillers use huge holding vats (to "marry" or "mature"). Either way, it really ought to be a sales point but Balcones needs to lift their head in pride and to stop avoiding the important subject of wood.




*******
Bear, you've been there and when you read this, please refer to the questions posed to you in the post above. I'm sure we'd all hearing it appreciate from the horse's, er Bear's mouth, from one who's had a paws-on experience: what you saw, where, how many and how you interpreted the use of these large barrels.
Last edited by Capn Jimbo on Tue Sep 02, 2014 1:22 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by bearmark »

The picture that I posted was from the San Antonio Current. When I visited the distillery a few months back, they were distilling Rumble and putting it in small barrels. They're in transition to their larger warehouse and apparently have moved barrels there for aging and that wasn't part of the tour (yet... they'll move tours there in the future).

Here's another picture for the evidence file from I Love Texas Photo:

Image
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Post by Capn Jimbo »

Such is life...


Well until someone has actually seen or posted snapshots of more than 10 large barrels, we won't know, and Balcones isn't telling. I will make one observation though: if he is indeed aging (not maturing/marrying) then the estimate of around 200 barrels (representing 50% of the last years production) is reasonable.

That many large barrels - placed in a single file, single level on the floor (as shown in several pics) - would take up an immense amount of space. It is notable that his micro-barrels are indeed placed in multi-level stacks to save space, and this is just for months! Any large barrels intended for serious aging would surely be likewise organized in racks, and left alone to age (with perhaps annual reorganization). Whiskey Woman reported barrel rolling - with this in mind?


So I'm placing my bet...

One crisp, clean American dollar on black - that the few barrels shown in a single level, no racks, and being rolled are rollable for a reason - they are not being held for seven year aging, but for marrying purposes for a much shorter time.

Any takers?
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Post by Capn Jimbo »

Columbo: "And just one more thing..."


However the horse may like it, I'm not into beating a near dead, but still twitching example, but one thing remains of glaring concern... I've visited DrinkupNY several times over the last month or so and continue to find that of the six Balcones' products listed, four continue to be "out of stock"!

That is astounding.

At the same time, Bear reports that Tate seems to be inferring that 50% of his production is set aside for "maturation"?! If by that he means aging (and not temporary marrying) my concern is heightened. Why? I have a hard time believing that any distiller would set aside half of his production while simultaneously failing to fill orders for retail sales. It's hard enough to get shelf space, and not being able to fill it will perturb distributors.

This simply doesn't make sense. All said, this only reinforces the previous post, namely that I rather doubt significant large barrel aging is occuring. Perhaps it's time for an email...

Bear?
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Post by Capn Jimbo »

Finally!


I finally found mention of at least one large (60 gallon) barrel which Balcones actually did use for aging their first bourbon (new charred wood mandatory). Note that Tate abandoned his now infamous micro-barrels, as he knows his bourbon would be destroyed by two years in them.

The expected bottling was reported to be 150 bottles, a very limited release. Even though this single batch/barrel was apparently about ready in early 2013 - despite trying - I just can't seem to find any bottles, mentions or reviews of it on the net.

Perhaps Bear may know of it...
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Post by bearmark »

Capn Jimbo wrote:Finally!

I finally found mention of at least one large (60 gallon) barrel which Balcones actually did use for aging their first bourbon (new charred wood mandatory). Note that Tate abandoned his now infamous micro-barrels, as he knows his bourbon would be destroyed by two years in them.

The expected bottling was reported to be 150 bottles, a very limited release. Even though this single batch/barrel was apparently about ready in early 2013 - despite trying - I just can't seem to find any bottles, mentions or reviews of it on the net.

Perhaps Bear may know of it...
The product that you're referring to is Balcones V Anniversary Single Barrel Straight Bourbon. I've tasted it as mentioned in this thread. It's very good with a dry, woody profile. The usual bourbon flavors are there, but it doesn't have the bold, sweet fruits of Stagg, Weller or Pappy. There's plenty of spice though and it's well balanced across all of the elements. It's definitely not my favorite profile of bourbon or my favorite bourbon offering, but it's very good. It handily bests all of the Garrison Bros. offerings that I've had by a fair margin.

This was their initial batch (a single barrel) and it was limited to about 150 bottles of which about 120 were actually sold (as I recall). These were highly sought after and very scarce. I know 2 people who have a bottle. There was also a second batch released late last year and I was unable to make it to the distillery on the release day in order to purchase a bottle due to an ice storm (in Texas of all places). Beyond this, I've heard of a Balcones Crooked Bourbon (aged less than 2 years), but I've never seen or tasted it and I don't think it was ever offered for sale.

I know that Balcones has plans to add a bourbon to their lineup, but I've not heard when. Based on the timeframe of the comments, I would expect the first product sometime next year.
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Rum References: Flor de Caña 18 (Demeraran), The Scarlet Ibis (Trinidadian), R.L. Seale 10 (Barbadian), Appleton Extra (Jamaican), Ron Abuelo 12 (Cuban), Barbancourt 5-Star (Agricole)
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