Nose: oak, charcoal, woods, apple. Flavor Notes: apple, spice, cinnamon, red hot candy, sweetness. I went to an Uncle Nearest tasting at our local and quite wonderful liquor store, Gomers. To call Gomers a liquor store seems to undermine them. Not only do they offer an array of tastings they do so often. From wine, to craft beer, to whiskey of all types. They are especially into bourbon! Yay! Regardless, it was a lovely presentation and I quite enjoyed learning about the history of Uncle Nearest, the brand, the person, and his historic journey. As we sat there learning of all the above, with two samples before us, testing our noses, the one aroma that stood out the most was apple! My mind pondered if I were sitting there with a couple cider samples! This apple aroma was spiced and made my mouth water as I eagerly waited to taste. Thankfully the presentation was intriguing and made the waiting palatable. Upon first nose I was greeted with warm oak and charcoal, followed by a woody aroma that made me feel as if I were in a beautiful forest. On first mouth I got that gorgeous apple flavor accented with a light spice. Second sip I tasted more spice - stronger spice - like a red hot candy! Yet, it was not overpowering. As I listened to more of the chatter among the tasters and as we navigated to the next sample before us I decided to wait a bit. They were moving too fast for me, I wanted to enjoy this sample longer. Finally the last sip and I tasted a wonderful sweetness along with all the other above mentioned flavors. Not too sweet but just enough to balance the spice. I have no idea how much it costs, and am new to building my collection. I would purchase this but prefer the second sample more ...Uncle Earnest 1884 so that will be added to my collection first. My 3.5 rating is based on my limited tasing experience and what I have had thus far on my journey. Ratings have nothing to do with cost - just my impressions.