Troy & Sons Oak Reserve 7 Year

T&S Oak Reserve 7YR (Aged in ex-Woodford Reserve Barrels) *NOSE: There is a dominant Ester-y Plastic/Vinyl Note. Underneath is Butterscotch, Karo Syrup, Vanilla, Cornmeal. These combine with that Rubbery note and come across as almost "Rum-like". *NEAT: At first it's promising that the Plastic Note (think new shower curtain) is not prominent. It's there, but mild. This reminds you it's Corn Whiskey, but a DRY Corn Whiskey. Dry Cornbread, Creamed Corn, and Dry Bitter Tannins. Some Vanilla gives it a Light Sweetness. Then it goes sideways. It finishes with a Sharp Bite and (there it is) an Unpleasant Coating of that Chemical Plastic/Vinyl note. BLECH. *SPLASH: A Little Water or a Large Cube of Ice helps the palate some. Less Dry with a Peppery Tingle and some Oak finally shows up. The Plastic note transitions to Leather. and you get a Little More Vanilla. *VERDICT: I so wanted to like this as it's a NC Product and waited for a while to review hoping against hope that it would improve. I remember liking the NAS version years ago (and even stated in my review that I thought it could use some more barrel time), so I figured extra age had to be better. Boy was I wrong. It was somewhat saved by water/ice, but as much as I want to, I can't recommend this. At all.