My initial impression of this was they took black label, blended it with gold label and said here ya go. Three weeks and a quarter bottle later this whiskey has really blossomed. Dried red fruits, malt, vanilla, baking spices and a little peat smoke on the nose and the soft, creamy palate. The palate adds some marzipan, milky tea, chocolaty and caramel notes with pepper arriving late. The pepper, milky tea and chocolate notes continue through the medium finish.