Well hello! It's that time... time for 24 Days of Whisk(e)y. I'll be officially kicking things off tomorrow, but I thought I better get back into the swing of things, so I'm reviewing something that's been on my shelf for a bit, but will not be in the 24 Days lineup. Tonight I'm drinking Bull Run American Whiskey, Aged 14 Years and then finished in Oregon Pinot Noir Casks for 20 more months. Batch No APF45, Barrel Proof coming in at 63.28% ABV, Hand selected by Westmoreland Liquors, costing just over $40. As far as I can tell this is a sourced whiskey - where it's distilled is anyone's guess as the label doesn't give any clues.
On the nose, we got some cereal grain, cherry fruit, herbal mint, and a touch of sweet molasses. The proof is certainly there as well. The taste has some malty sweetness, a touch of cherry, some bitter black tea and licorice, and the proof carries through as well. The finish is warm and tingly - dry. Has a burnt sweetness in the back... nothing off-putting, but nothing great either, which is too bad because the finish does linger for quite some time.
With water, everything is just somewhat subdued... nose is flat, the taste seems to have more dry bitter tea and that carries into the finish. For me while it's punchy neat, it's better overall. At $40 and 14 years this would be a bargain if it was a bit better - but as it is, it's just so so, rated 2.75/5.0
