Penderyn seems to be doing some interesting things with their single cask offerings as they keep getting positive reviews. Whisky Advocate just listed their newest 15 year and this 13 year in their spring 2021 buying guide with high ratings for both. I noticed this one at one of my favorite liquor stores prior to those glowing reviews and debated buying it. I had already bought their 10 year old Madeira finish for 100 and wanted to compare the two side by side, but a 60% markup for a Buffalo Trace barrel and 3 extra years seemed hard to justify. I smelled some marketing BS since they had to slap on that ex-BT bourbon in, instead of just saying ex-bourbon barrels and kept myself from buying it for a few weeks, but unfortunately succumbed to my whisky FOMO and ended up buying this bottle. Here’s hoping my whisky FOMO didn’t get the best of me again. The first smell is tannic and almost overpowering with tons of rich oak mixing with sherry fruits. It’s a combination of wood shop and Sulphur that doesn’t bode well for what’s to come. Coming back to it, the tannins calm down and those sherry cask notes are right up front with dark chocolate covered raisins then comes more fruits of blueberries, caramelized bananas, apple chips, leading back to those medium oak tannins and barrel spices with burnt toast, leather and a medium ethanol burn. The taste starts with a syrupy thick and oily mouthfeel with chocolate covered raisins leading to caramel coated black cherries over a vanilla creme brûlée then medium oak tannins, barrel spices of ginger, cloves, black pepper and leather with a medium ethanol burn. The finish is long and lingers with sherry up front, chocolate covered raisins, black cherries, vanilla creme brûlée, black pepper and leather. Wow, this one is better than the 10 year Madeira cask I have and drinks much older than a 13 year. I compared it with the Madeira and both are on the sweeter side but this one brings in a sherry and bourbon barrel mix to help lower those sweet flavors while those rich oak flavors help balance each other out. Those oak tannins are almost overpowering like an overstepped black tea on the taste, but manage to fade away in the finish leaving me with a taste resembling Black Forest cake. Another great one from Penderyn and looking forward to their next single cask release, which I probably won’t wait longer than a few minutes from buying next time.