Pungent Sherry nose, though the PX feels a bit more subdued. Poached pears, light rubbery vanilla (asphalt), sawdust, gritty cereal grains, breakfast biscuit, Highland brine has a bite to it but not the savory salt flavor I like, plenty of European oak pepper, grassy, vague dried fruit notes, very dry and astringent. This used to be one of the best scotches <$100. Raw cereal gains and an astringent metalic/mineral aftertaste persist. Oxidized a bit and faded white chocolate, tart raspberry, faint Sherry prunes and leather notes came out. I can see it here as a lesser imitation of yesteryear's Macallan. Utterly underwhelming compared to what this product used to be. Huge decline in quality, value and fidelity across the whole <$100 scotch market over the last decade IMO. This tastes more along the lines of Johnnie Walker swill. Reading the other reviews, it seems either I got a bad batch or there's a bit of old product still circulating; color of mine is golden flax. Taste profile still doesn't match prior experience. I guess if you want something similar that I would actually recommend, try anCnoc, Caol Ila or Spice Tree.