Pours a rich amber-gold color. Not very leggy until you add a little water to it. The aroma is very spicy and peppery. The cinnamon component makes me assume it has a good deal of rye. (Note: the mash bill is 75% corn, 13% rye, 12% barley.) The second wave is lacquered wood and just a touch of varnish. The barrel char is ashy and pairs well with the peanut dust that brings up the rear. The taste is cinnamon spice and red pepper flakes: it leaves a nifty little burn on the palate. The resins from the barrel give a prickly, piney character. The middle of the swallow has a combination of salted toffee and rich butterscotch hard candy. When you dilute it a bit, a bloom of cherry and orange rind comes out. It finishes with red and black pepper heat: the spices dance on the tongue long after the swallow. Dark chocolate, charcoal ash, bitter toffee and coffee grounds. The tail end is orange zest, ribbon candy and fire balls (the candy, not the shot for teenagers). The finish lingers better than I would have expected. This Bourbon is lot of peppery spice, finished wood, charcoal ash. Very well balanced between spicy and woody, both elements compliment each other well. For $15 this is an absolute steal: neat, rocks or mixed.