Blue Run Spirits Bourbon: 13yr Winter Release
Blue Run Bourbon
Age: 13yr Kentucky Straight Bourbon
Release: Winter 2020-2021
Color: Deep Copper
👃: Molasses, Brown Butter, Slight Dusty Funk Note, Toasted Caramel, Creme Brûlée,
👅: Rich brown sugar sweetness and a whole lot of spice hits the front and the mid palate immediately, and at 113 proof it gives a pleasant tingling sensation. Cocoa, Cherry and Caramelized Brown Sugar notes dominate.
🏁: Long and sweet, eventually coming to an end with an oaky and barrel char exclamation point.
I have to be honest, I went into this tasting unbelievably skeptical. The “premium bourbon” market has exploded recently with considerably less-than-premium offerings, asking insane prices for what is actually in the bottle. Most of the time you are paying for the marketing campaign and packaging. This is exactly why I was a bit cynical going into my first tasting of Blue Run Bourbon.
The bottle was designed by Devon McKinney. You know, the guy who designed Nike’s iconic Air Force One sneaker. And the marketing campaign centered around the fact that former Four Roses Master Distiller Jim Rutledge was behind the sourcing of this bourbon and is currently overseeing the distilling operations of Blue Run’s new make.
Jim’s last venture, the relaunch of the Cream of Kentucky brand, was quite possibly one of my worst experiences with bourbon since I got into all of this. Nevertheless, I certainly went into this with an open mind and made a point to review this without prejudice. That said, I couldn’t have been more pleasantly surprised.
Now, at a $170 MSRP this definitely qualifies as a “premium priced bourbon”. The question is obviously whether the whiskey in the bottle justifies such a high price point.
The simple answer is no, it doesn’t. But, like most things in the new bourbon world these days, it’s not that simple. Would I pay $100 for the whiskey alone? In a heart beat. There’s going to be some markup for the packaging (which I do actually really like), and for the big time players behind the brand. When you take all that into consideration I understand the price. Do I agree with the value? No I don’t. But would I pass on another opportunity to drink this bourbon? Absolutely not.
This was an incredibly enjoyable bourbon. As of this review, it is only distributed to KY and GA, so I can’t get a bottle anyway, but for whatever it’s worth I do wish I had the option up here in New England.
Disclosure: The 2oz sample used for this review was provided by Blue Run Spirts at no cost to irondrams.com with the full expectation of an honest and non-biased review.
