So this showed up at my local Total Wine today so I decided to pull the trigger. I'm not an experienced rye drinker, but I really enjoy the Russell's Reserve Single Barrel Rye and was hoping this was as good. Spoiler alert - mission accomplished! The nose is actually a bit muddled and my least favorite part. Most people talk about pickle brine, and that's as good a guess as anything, but that's not quite it. It's a really unusual nose, and I had a ton of trouble identifying just what the heck was going on with it. For me, this is the weakest part of the drink for me, but it's still interesting. Once in the mouth, it takes on a more traditional caramel and spice flavor that is really quite nice. Not overly sweet, but a perfect balance of sweet and spice. The finish is where this just takes off into orbit. It's transcendent. So much caramel, baking spice, spearmint, in perfect balance, lasting forever. It's spectactular in my opinion, one of the best finishes I've experienced. I had high expectations for this drink, and they were met. I admit that my score may be higher because it continues to improve from nose to palate to finish, but man, it's good. I understand that this is supposed to improve with air - I'd love for that to be true. Even over the first hour I spent with this, the caramel (or is it brown sugar) got a little bit more prominent, and I noticed the tiniest bit of cherry and other fruit in the palate and finish. If you see this for a reasonable price (below $70), I think it's a must try. But full disclosure, I'm pretty new to rye and could be overly impressed.