Nose: Oddly muted overall, and not at all in the traditional bourbon wheelhouse of aromas. It took me some time to settle on the scents, but it's a strange mix of wine cellar and tanning salon. ‍Palate: A bit musty and quite dry, it isn't at all what I expected. Barely any sweet notes with muted dark red fruit, oak, and spice constitute its flavor profile. ‍Finish: A hard wine aftertaste creeps up, but then quickly fades. Overall on the dry side with only fleeting moments of sweetness. ‍Overall: This isn't for me. It's one of the most unique barrel finishes I've had and I'm not sure that's a good thing. It tastes less of a port finish and more of an extra dry Merlot finish. I'm not sure if the whiskey is strong enough to hold up to the barrel finish as it tastes somewhat of an afterthought here. I wonder if the company knew this and why they used older whiskey for this release than their standard 86 and 105 proof releases. As is, it tastes like someone dumped Merlot wine in with bourbon which resulted in a minimal amount of natural fusion between the two.