Nose - sweet grain, vanilla, black pepper, dry herbal notes, lemon zest, mild to moderate ethanol burn. Taste - sweet and spicy grain, earthy vanilla, paper, black pepper, dry herbal notes, mild to moderate alcohol bite, finishing medium short with black pepper, sweet grain, and dry herbal flavors. Given the extremely high expert review, I’m pretty disappointed. This isn’t bad vodka. It’s just perfectly mediocre. The nose is sweet and earthy with some prominent black pepper. The palate is similar, but some of the Tito’s paper taste sneaks in just a bit. Overall, Absolut isn’t good enough to notch it above the rest of the pack. It’s also the same price as Stoli, which is more robust and complex, so I won’t be buying a bottle of this. I’d rather pick up a bottle of Jim Beam Original and save a few bucks.