Barrel pick for North Carolina Open 2.5 months Nose - Caramel, orange peel, cinnamon stick, toasted bread, toffee, vanilla, corn dust, and sharper than expected notes of oak and ethanol. Palate - Mellow watery caramel, sweet corn, light cinnamon, light vanilla, brown sugar, watered down maraschino cherry juice, and little to no ethanol. Finish is short with oak tannins, watery caramel and brown sugar, light ethanol, and light orange. I was searching for my brother's Christmas present in one of my favorite NC ABC stores, and they happened to have 30+ bottles of this Buffalo Trace NC Single Barrel sitting near the register. You may think that's lucky, but in that same week before Christmas other NC ABC stores had Eagle Rare, Blanton's, EH Taylor, and Stagg Jr single barrels. I think I drew the short straw. Honestly I never search for BT products, but it had been years since I bought Buffalo Trace so why not try the single barrel for $30? It's the same story with Eagle Rare, EHT, and Blanton's for me. They are sweet, simple bourbons for people who don't like complex or high proof bourbons. The nose is normally pretty darn good but then they taste like watery alcoholic sugar. The hunt for these entry level BT products continues to be bewildering, but at least I can take solace in the fact that Old Forester, Wild Turkey, Elijah Craig, and Old Grand-Dad for roughly the same price are infinitely better.