Tasted neat from a small snifter. The pour is a deep clear mahogany and really shows the sherry cask tint. My nose immediately says "sweet". This smells like the hot caramel Dairy Queen puts on a sundae. There are notes of spun sugar & corn syrup hard candy. There is the slightest hint of latex paint, but no edgy methanol. There's not a lot of fruit from the sherry on the nose. It's a very pleasant, if not terribly complex profile. This has a creamy mouthfeel and my first impression is that this is quite a silky, easy sipper. It's not nearly so sweet as the aroma suggests. There's a flash of egg white, dark chocolate, yellow cake and a suggestion of maple with orchard fruit. The flavor profile doesn't escape the slightly chemical note noticed on the nose with a slight layer of ethanol giving this an unwelcome roughness. It's by no means aggressive, but the fault is one of commission that keeps this rum from being a contender. I like this, but not enough to spring $45 for it again. I just don't think its a great value, although it is a reasonably good rum My rating scale holds a 1 = drain pour & 5 = a near perfect example of the expression. Most competently manufactured liquors should be found on a bell curve with the average being 2.5. This is a little above average and is borderline 3.0 to 3.25, imho.