Open 4 months Nose - Musty cereal grain, malty peat smoke, toffee, hickory smoke, dark chocolate, gingerbread, berry pie, and medium ethanol. Palate - Delicate malt, light briny peat, honey, caramel, vanilla, light cinnamon, light berry, and light orange peel. Finish is medium-long with dry oak, hickory smoke, ashy peat, light honey, and medium ethanol kick. This is a really good Japanese whiskey, and affordable when you consider the other options in NC are around this price and under 90 proof. If I reviewed this when I opened it, I may have given it 4.5 stars. Towards the end of the bottle the kick and richness has faded slightly, and it's gotten a little more dry and bitter. Still, if you like lightly peated Scotch you will probably like this. The closest comparison I've had is the John Walker & Sons Celebratory Blend. They both taste like blended Highland malt, but this definitely has a peated Highland/Island profile in the blend compared to the unpeated Celebratory Blend. I had both bottles open and confirmed this side-by-side. Side note, the bottle looks really cool and unique but is terrible at pouring. It's hard to avoid a dribble when the bottle is more than half full.