Act 5/Scene 6 A Midwinters Night Dram. Top Dog in the High West catalog (or at least one of the top dogs). Act 2 was insanely great. Act 3 quite good. But as the successive Acts that have been released, the distance in experience has diminished. Does Act 5 begin to break this trend? The aromas are light and faint. What comes through jammy, spicy, earthy and sweet. As it opens, the sweetness strengthens. Jelly donuts with granulated sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice and vanilla. Fresh pinewood, dampened maple leaves and hay. Cola notes slowly come to strength through time and patience. It arrives surprisingly soft and creamy for a higher proofed whiskey. The baking spices of nutmeg, cloves and cinnamon arrive in initially and set the stage. Wood spice provide a tingle to the palate. Grape jam, mashed strawberries with vanilla blend in with the baking spices creating a sweet and spicy blend. We The finish leaves the tongue with a tingle and slowly diminishes to distinguishable flavors. Cola, vanilla with drying oak tannins. Faints of nutmeg and cloves, dill and black licorice. Previous versions of this would conjure up images of November evenings or Thanksgiving holidays. Full of spice, dill, rye, mint and brown sugar. This version is nothing like those previous versions. Though good, it pales to its earlier siblings. The nose is decent and the palate good. Like the previous Acts, a touch of water improves the dram. Act 5 lacks the punch and fullness of the earlier versions. However, all in all, good aromas and flavors, especially the baking spices with the sweetness always makes this a pleasant dram. [$99][88/100][Tasted: 8/28/21]