Interesting concept here. Rye with port wine blended in. I’ve only got Knob Creek Rye and SH rye to compare to from Beam, and yet something tells me those two won’t provide much of a basis. Let’s get into my first “whiskey specialty” review. Nose: Very sweet. The port dominates, reminding more of a wine-aged scotch than anything from the US/Canada. Pound cake, plum, date, fig, raisin, malt, and toffee. Strawberry jam and black cherry. Acai and blackberry. Pineapple and croissant as well. Not a hint of rye spice; just dark fruit and dark sweet notes. It’s an enticing nose. Palate: The rye shows up on the palate. Gala apple and rye bread. Black pepper. Some mint/mint chocolate and wintergreen. Black cherry and a Jolly Rancher flavor I can’t pin down (maybe it’s both red and green.) More of the plum, date, raisin, and fig. Dried apricot. Some chestnut. It’s syrupy and thick initially, and starts to dry at the end. Finish: Plum, black cherry, red grape, raisin, fig, and date. A touch of some bready notes. Very quickly becomes drying. Which doesn’t say much, because the finish is evaporates after just barely enough time call it a short finish. Any shorter and it wouldn’t be there. This is one of those whiskies that is amazing on the nose, and then drops off bit by bit from there. My only hang-up would be calling it a whiskey at all, considering there is a small percentage of port wine blended into this Kentucky/Canadian rye hybrid. The nose gets an A. And while I enjoy the palate, it didn’t quite deliver according to expectations. And the finish is too brief to be of note. I think this was an interesting experiment, and for $40, I’d say it’s reasonably priced for what you get. I’m going with a 3.5/5 for this one. It’s a shame it doesn’t drink the way it noses, but it’s still a fine whiskey (specialty) at the end of the day.