Dry Fly Barrel Reserve Gin

Dry Fly Port Barrel Finished Gin, Barrel Reserve, hand-selected exclusively for Total Wine & More, Spokane WA, April 2021. Dry Fly's Northwest style gin, made from soft white winter wheat, then rested in port barrels. I suspect, similar to their port-barreled wheat whiskey, that this gin is finished in Columbia Valley’s Townshend Cellar's huckleberry-infused port barrels. The aging duration isn't stated, but I'd guess, like the oak barrel aged gin, it's 12 months? On the nose, sweet malty hops, a hint of juniper, and floral fruit. Oak, sweet malt, huckleberry fruit, and a little ethanol caught me off guard. The finish offered grain sweetness, then turned dry and brief. Its color is roan, resembling a light whiskey more than a gin. Quite distinctive. Initially not very pleasant, but it improved with time. It's more like a fruit-sweetened white whiskey genever-style gin than DF's Northwest-style gin or a classic juniper-forward London Dry gin. While I generally enjoy barrel-aged gins, the sweet malt character of this expression is too dominant. I'm not sure the port barrel significantly altered it from DF's standard barrel-aged gin, other than making it sweeter.