I swear this is the last throwback of the week! The picture below is from April 2018. Bull Run was my first introduction to light whiskey and balanced finishes. They were also some of the first immediate sellouts we had on Seelbach's. They're still cranking out well-aged whiskey with an extended wine finish. And it's so good! The whiskey is older, but not much has changed with their stay at Seelbach's. A barrel like this won't last long.
Even more exciting is this rum cask. I didn't know Bull Run made rum until I tried these samples. It's distilled in-house using Hawaiian turbinado sugar. After 10 years in an ex-bourbon barrel, the rum moved to a Sherry cask for 11 months. It's hard to believe this is a near-hazmat rum. It drinks so much softer than that. Lots of torched sugar sweetness rounded out by the dried fruit notes from the Sherry finish. We have a history of great barrels with Bull Run, and these are no exception.
Bull Run Distillery 17-year American Whiskey Finished in Oregon Pinot Noir Casks #APF-109 120.94 proof
An absolute treat for an American Whiskey fan. Cane sugar and orange zest are forward on the nose, followed by a dense, buttery strawberry preserve presence. Further - dried raisin, cranberry and cherry grow, while mingling with a slightly toasted wood and slightly singed marshmallow.
The palate is blanketing, immediately letting the 33 months of finishing add their beauty and balance in tandem to this already sweet-toned canvas. There’s a plethora of red fruits, but I’m more thought of texture notes: buttery, damp, robust, and coating.
While bringing mixed baking spices to the mix mid-palate and into the finish, it ultimately continues to offer up custardy sweetness lined with lovely oak and long, long, long lasting candied fruit jam.
Bull Run Distillery 11-year Pacific Rum Finished in Sherry Barrels #PR5-S1 137.86 proof
The nose is a sweet mix of both brown and white sugar syrups, continuing with a soft floral bouquet, sweet melon and orchard fruit juice, and delicate kiss of charred oak.
The palate saturates like sno cone syrup, with a gorgeous, silky mouthfeel. While it tingles on the gums, the more you sip the less you notice its 137 proof. Sweet vanilla, toasted coconut, and lovely accompanying.
The finish is long and trailing, continuing to stay vanilla forward with nuanced layers of dark fruits and warming oak - with brighter red fruits standing out well into the long finish.
