Bull Run 13yr Pinot Noir Finished

Nose: Caramelized bananas, cinnamon rolls, honey rosted almonds, dry dust, cotton candy. Taste: oak, dry orange peel, dry wine, buttery light finish, The nose and pallette do not match, the nose is hyper sweet with char and sugar all day. The taste however is still sweet but also mouth puckeringly dry. The Pinot Noir has had its way with the whiskey and not much is left otger than more dry oak and a long not unwelcome finish that is light and buttery. It is not a "bad" thing that the nose and taste differer so much, but i cant help but be a little disappointed after the promise of rich burt sugars to end up with a dry "winy" taste.

Rating: 14/23 I picked this up on a whim. It wasn't too expensive, carried a 13 year 7 month age statement, and sounded kind of interesting. I vaguely recall this being light whiskey, but I'm not reading anything to that effect on the bottle, so I'd need to confirm. E: It's definitely light for a 13 year old American whiskey, especially one that spent 7 months finishing in pinot noir casks. N: I definitely get that fruit. It's kind of a strawberry quality with a light underbelly and a slight floral nature, then it turns into sort of peppery terroir with some funkiness like chicken breast roasted at high temperature, but not for quite long enough. It's funky and interesting, but also a little bit off-putting. I do get some dusty barrel in here and a bit of cinnamon and allspice coming out of it, but the terroir dominates the nose. P: Sweet and restrained with a spicy lower layer that really adds some strength and hits me in the back of the mouth. The first flavor is sort of a light, slightly creamy caramel with strawberry flavor. Like caramelized strawberry milk. That said, this isn't an incredibly sweet dram. It's on the sweet side, but there are bitter flavors to it. There's some funky terroir with it that gives me a bit of overdone PX vibes, but fortunately it stays under control and develops a bit of an oloroso oiliness to complete the profile. I really would have guessed that this was a sherry-finished dram. Either way, it's nicely done. As for the spices, I get a barrel richness combining cinnamon, allspice, black pepper, and clove. I'd like the individual spices to stand out a little bit more, but this is very nice. I do get a little bit of meatiness, but it comes across as fully-cooked roast chicken breast. The alcohol does show through a little bit alongside it, which reminds me that the palate is a bit on the thin side. The proof seems just about right. Considering the alcohol presence, I don't want it higher; however, there's enough presence here that it doesn't seem weak. F: Strawberry milk lingers with some terroir funkiness and a subdued barrel backing that nonetheless fills out the profile. There's some decent complexity still, though it winds up being a bit muddled. Mostly, this is just an easy-going finish that carries the palate's profile through. - Conclusion - I worried for a moment that this would be difficult to drink like Rabbit Hole Dereringer (12/23), but fortunately that turned out not to be the case. This does come across as a bit youthful and lacking in certain dimensions, but it's interesting while being an easy sipper. That youthful alcohol flavor can be a bit difficult to get past though. It definitely holds this back. This is more nuanced than Elijah Craig Small Batch (15/23), but it has some additional flaws. I'm inclined to say that the Elijah Craig is better. McIvor 17 (16/23) is clearly better than this is. Four Roses Single Barrel (15/23) strikes me as fairly competitive with this, coming at it from the spicy angle with some red fruits. That said, this still has the young alcohol flavor, so I don't think that it's quite as good. I think this is a 14. It's solid and pretty easy to sip, but the youthfulness is just a bit of a problem.

Batch 13.

The nose is incredible! I get red berries, vanilla, cinnamon stick, brown sugar, and marshmallow. Cherry, red berries, graham crackers (or maybe more like golden grahams), caramel, oak on the palate. The finish is pretty mild. It goes down smooth. I feel like I just ate raspberries and s’mores.

"Batch No. 012 Bottle No. 01042

Batch No. 012 Bottle No. 01042