Jesus Christ this whiskey smells awful. I don't know what others pick up but it smells like sharpies and rubbing alcohol to me. By far and away the worst smelling swill I've ever caught a whiff of. Luckily, the taste isn't nearly as offensive as the smell. There's not very much depth of character and this whiskey tastes dirt cheap. But usually dirt cheap can lean either too heavily into no taste at all ( watered down ) or too heavily into disgusting alcohol burn. This doesn't possess either of those qualities. It's got a light taste that is decidedly blended of cheaper malts. There is a heavy corn presence but an odd sourness toward the end of the taste. It has a very strange tongue numbing sensation going down and the after taste reminds me of the same sour qualities you may get after taking a swig of warm coke. Is it worst thing in this price category? No, not even close. But to say there are much better choices in the $30-$40 / bottle range is the understatement of the year. You could do worse, but there are so many better choices.