Nose - red berry, powdered sugar, marshmallow, honey, fig, vanilla cream, shortbread cookie, walnut, caramel, pineapple skin, grass, bitter herbal notes, nutmeg, clove, anise, banana, toasted coconut, raisin bread, moderate ethanol burn. Taste - cherry, strawberry, peach, honey, spearmint, ginger, chili pepper, caramel, vanilla, shortbread cookie, walnut, anise, apple, allspice, nutmeg, cocoa, plum, moderate to high alcohol bite, finishing medium length with red berry, spearmint, and herbal flavors. After an internal struggle, I decided to purchase the new and improved Redbreast Cask Strength, now with no age statement. Sarcasm fully intended. They even brazenly kept the price the same as its 12 Year predecessor. It’s actually more expensive in some places. So has this new NAS incarnation given Redbreast the flexibility to craft batches that far exceed the quality of the original? Let’s find out. Red berries leap from the glass on the nose. Following closely behind are honey, the classic shortbread cookies, a hint of tropical fruit, and creamy vanilla. Actually I’m getting strong strawberries and cream or fruity parfait vibes. The palate brings the same fruitiness, but also a very strong spearmint flavor. Chocolate and baking spices are present as well, but herbal notes provide the dominant counterbalance to those honeyed and sherried fruits. Long story short, I don’t think this is better than the 12 Year Cask Strength. As expected, it tastes noticeably younger. The dark, dried fruits are replaced with bright red ones. And the strong minty, herbal notes are an unwelcome addition in my opinion. Overall this is very good, but it pales in comparison to the original. This review is effectively based on the neck pour, so maybe some of the brightness will subside in a few months. I’ll post an update if it improves dramatically, but I doubt it will. I should have followed my instincts and left this one on the shelf, but unfortunately I’m $120 lighter for a whiskey that’s probably worth slightly more than half that.