Lost Lantern Balcones Bourbon Review (Single Cask #8)

By Richard Thomas

Rating: B+

The crafty duo of Nora Ganley-Roper and Adam Polonski have established quite a name for their enterprise, Lost Lantern, in a short space of time as folks to watch in the small, but growing category of American negociants. For those not familiar with the term, it refers to folks who buy casks of (in this case) whiskey and inventory it themselves, releasing in-house blends and single barrel bottlings. This is a common practice in Ireland and Scotland, and once upon a time it was so in America, but it fell out of favor after Prohibition. The few who engaged in it before recent times certainly didn’t call attention to it, instead preferring to pretend to be distillers themselves.

Lost Lantern displayed their cask-hunting and blending skill with their Vatted Malt No. 1, but their Spring 2021 Single Cask Collection showcases only the former. Part of that grouping is a bottling from a two year old, 60-gallon cask of bourbon made by one of the famed trailblazing distillery of Texas, Balcones. This bourbon was made from a mash of 100% roasted blue corn, the same mash bill that made Balcones famous some several years ago, and the 199 bottle yield was done at a cask strength of 126.8 proof.

The Bourbon
A pour of this blue corn bourbon has the opposite coloring in the glass: the amber takes on a deep red character here. Keeping in mind the strength of this whiskey is above 60% ABV, I put a splash of water in before really getting started.

I found a nose with deep, rich caramel and maple, accented by notes of cherry and musty-ness, and a hint of char. The flavor puts a heavy twist of sweet corn into that caramel and maple foundation, and the cherry note carries over from the scent as well. That hint of char grows, though, turning into something more akin to campfire-roasted corn husk. The finish is a touch fruity and a touch ashy, fading into a more tannic note.

This single cask is a lovely sipper, rich and flavorful, and with more sophistication than anyone has any right to expect from a merely two years old bourbon. Go snag a bottle; there aren’t very many, and it is well worth the asking price.

The Price
Lost Lantern Single Cask #8 will set you back $90.