Balcones True Blue

First vapor: Dark maple with cherry cough syrup.

Nose: Like walking into a fudge confectionery that happens to be next to a large crop field. There are loads of sweet butter in the air; sweet an buttery kettle corn. Other fudge elements come out besides the sugar and the butter-- there's the nutty penuche, there's the french vanilla of divinity fudge; and even some mint fudge hinting at rye. This latter sharpness becomes more prominent with time.

Palate: Entry is bitter-hot like amaretto and tabasco; then the hot sauce appears to have flambeed some maple syrup into char. Rather like hot kettle corn. Before the finish, a frame of charred pear and dried fig passes into orange-infused maple with clove. This combination gives the impression of having eaten gingerbread cookies.

Finish: A creamed corn dish, with minced red chilies and sweetened with cinnamon.

There is really a lot here. The only complaint is the throat-sting on the entrance, but this levels off and continues into an amazingly rich palate. The deep sweet flavors are really big and full; you can lick the butter off your lips. I need to award the dominant thrill to the nose, though-- an incredibly thick aroma that evokes walking among the summertime confections of a state fair by a cornfield. Americana complete.

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