I have enjoyed a few of the generic bottle lousy labeling Backbone products. I think I complain about the packaging in every review because it looks like someone printed a label at home and slapped it on a bottle in their garage.... well enough on that. This bottle claims to be their special anniversary release so they set their bar a bit high. Since there was only a single 3.5 rating without a review this one is a bit of a flyer. Hopefully I can give the next buyer a little more to go on. Nose starts off really nice here. Brown sugar and vanilla forward with no ethanol burn. So far so good... First sip brings sweet notes from the start. Vanilla on the very front followed by a slow molasses wave. There is a gentle heat that comes on mid sip with cinnamon and cloves notes. The finish holds that soft warming heat for a fairly long close. I am getting a little bit of banana bread on the very tail and I wouldn't be surprised if there was a high rye mash somewhere in this bottle's pedigree. Overall I am enjoying the sweetness on the front and that long cinnamon finish on the back. As the old saying goes don't judge a book by its cover this dram follows that philosophy. A solid pour from a brand that has pleasantly suprised me. Now if someone could just introduce them to a marketing expert...