An amber/deep gold color. Aromas of vanilla, honey, heather, ginger, lemon custard, almond cookie, poached pear, baked apple and whispers of more tropical banana and pineapple notes. On the palate, it is buttery and unctuous with building flavors of pear and apple fruits, clove spice, and pepper. It has a pleasant weight and heft, but never burns hot. The finish returns to the barrels with ripe banana, caramel, and more vanilla. This is a poached pear on a lemon and ginger shortbread cookie with a Jack Daniel's caramel drizzle in a glass. As others have pointed out, this is definitely a whiskey that benefits from oxidation and exposure. I remember when I first opened it being deeply disappointed in the simple aromatics of cereal, vanilla, cream, and orange zest indicative of a youngish spirit in used bourbon or Tennessee whiskey barrels. However, it has developed quite a bit of nuance over a number of months. It actually performs quite well if you pour a glass in the morning before work, put a coaster over it, and enjoy it after dinner in the evening. I feel the underlying distillate is very pretty, but it just hasn't evolved much of a personality yet. It seems both comically Scotch and comically American, but also very refined at the same time. Perhaps that is the point, a lampoon of both cultures where the only one in on the joke is the distiller. It would rank fairly low in the Benriach, Glendronach, Glenglassaugh lineups for me personally, especially since there is no discount for lack of age or expensive barrel treatments.