Nose: strong spice and sweet (and as the name suggests) cinnamon and vanilla notes, followed by fruity notes of cherry and orange. Palate: Spice leads this palate as was promised on the nose with cinnamon, black pepper and coffee notes but which are balanced by lighter sweet notes of vanilla/syrup; this initial wave of flavor is accompanied by a strong backdrop of woody, toasted oak. A little hot but not bad for 108.8 proof. Finish: mellow and pleasant as the spices give way to some of the complex sweeter notes and wood/nutty notes. Overall: definitely as advertised and Cinnamon/spice forward, but I love how it finishes and begs you for another taste. Sweeter overall than a similar series/stave profile from Bellevue, KY called “The Spice is Right” (Party Source), which had a 2/1/2/2/3, compared to this profile of 1/2/2/1/4 (must be the extra toasted French Spice and seared French Cuvée). I love pretty much all Maker’s so I am biased but very worth the try! Cheers!