Nose: Sweetness, Pear, Vanilla Flavor: Candy, Pear, Vanilla, Spice, Melon I attended 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, teasing 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. Once we were allowed to sniff, and taste I learned that the wonderful apple aroma was coming from the first sample, Uncle Nearest 1856. I rated that a 3.5 and enjoyed it very much. For this sample, Uncle Nearest 1884, I was greeted with a wonderful sweet candle like aroma underscored by fruity pear and vanilla. It reminded me of the vanilla pears I used to make for my children when they were young. Tasting was the same but the candy flavor really popped. On second tasting, after about 3 minutes of chatting with the group, I was suprised that a mellow spice had joined the flavors on my palate! No where near as spicy as the Uncle Nearest 1856 but it was present. Then on the final taste I was even more surprised that a melon flavor presented itself! An odd combination - for me - as I have never sampled a whisky like this before. I absolutely want to add this one to my newly budding collection! I do also recommend Uncle Nearest 1856 but for me, this one here is more unique and on my list to get first, between the two. Funny sidebar: The presenter declared that women generally prefer the 1856 so I had to speak up and let him know "not this woman!" I have no idea how much it costs, and am new to building my collection. My 4.0 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.