Whew boy. The rye + cask strength of this is potent. Color is a pale herbal tea. Thin. Using first opening, the nose is ethanol and fruit. First sip upon opening, the heat is really too distracting to start pulling out all of these notes other people are waxing poetic about. Upon the advice of other reviewers, I let it sit for a bit before trying again. After sitting, the tropical fruit notes on both the nose and palate are evident as the ethanol disappears. There’s definitely evidence of rum- a good-quality aged rum. Adding water brings out more fruity sweetness- not overpoweringly sweet. It reminds me in some ways of the fruitiness of WhistlePig, but nothing takes away from the fire at the end. As soon as I swallow, it’s like my whole mouth just catches fire, and smolders for a long time. My tongue feels swollen. I keep waiting for the layers of flavor to present themselves, but the burn is just so distracting and the flavor notes disappear within seconds of swallowing. All in all, I was so ready to love this, but it’s just not a pleasant drinking experience for me. I guess barrel-strength ryes are just not my jam. I’ll try it iced and see how that works for me.