Blue Run

Blue Run Spirits should be one of the most hated companies in American whiskey. Set up in 2020, the founders are a group with no previous experience in the industry - made up of a Nike designer, a Facebook veteran, a hospitality executive, a political advisor, and a philanthropist. The aim is to 'sneakerize' the market - focussing on limited edition 'drops' to increase demand, as opposed to continually making a 'core' bottling. The bottle and branding was explicitly designed to attract and garner interest - which certainly worked on my wife, who keeps bugging me about getting a bottle.

But - and here's a big but - everything depends on the quality of the liquid. You can have all the marketing guff in the world for a whiskey, but if the liquid INSIDE the bottle isn't any cop, I'm not havng it. So when Jim Rutledge, ex-Master Distiller of Four Roses, is brought on board, you're already ticking a box for me.

'Reflection I' is named after the period during lockdown when the team had to take a long hard look at themselves and what they were doing. Would a new brand be a success in a changed world? Jim worked with Castle & Key to contract 200 barrels, some of which were used for this release as a 4 year old Bourbon, to prove it could be done.

And wow, has it paid off. This is a STUNNING whiskey, full of dark fruit, soft, sweet spices and a kick of pepper and chili on the finish. The drinkability of this is off the scale - although if you like your Bourbon 'big and beefy' this may be too sweet for you. But for me, oh my word it's an absolute belter.