This is the bourbon that really got me in to this, when my girlfriend got me a 1.75L for my 21st birthday. The nose is the best part, lots of really nice sweetness, giving the classic vanilla and caramel, with some nice baked bread or dare I say fresh out the oven cookies. The nose lures you in and excites you through a sheer sweetness overload, without any notable fruit/floral/spice/oak supporting it. There is no doubt that this is a wheated bourbon, after the nose. The palate delivers with some of the promised sweetness, but lacks some character/depth, really just hitting you with a thin vanilla frosting. Mouth feel wise, it's also thin. The vanilla is really dialed up, but fades pretty fast, with no caramel or fruit or citrus there to follow it up. The finish is really where it loses me. Pretty astringent and bitter, and without the rye spice there to cover for it, it really just dries out the mouth without providing any extra flavor, which is disappointing. All in all: A solid bourbon? Undoubtedly. When you've been distilling for this long it has to be good. A standard at weddings when the only alternative is 80 proof Beam. Towards the top of the "under $25" category? Frankly not really. My major issue is that it is so ''smooth'/mellow/tame that no one thing sticks out and is memorable. The finish is non-descript and relatively short, which while expected for the proof is still underwhelming, and surprisingly bitter at that. The nose is by far the best part of the experience, and the palate doesn't live up to it, and the bitterness on the finish, while showing it has some age, doesn't keep you coming back for more. If you like the sweetness, reach for Old Forester 86 or Weller SR instead, and save a few bucks while getting something with more depth. Or, if you want something that has loads more complexity, is cheaper, and is FAR more memorable, reach for standard Buffalo Trace. The fact that this costs MORE than OGD 114 is laughable. This couldn't hold a candle to EW SiB, for a four bucks more. The wax is really what keeps this in bars and on lists. From a value for money standpoint, to me it will have a hard time competing until it costs less than $18 (OF 86 price).