Nose - apricot, peach, butterscotch, coffee, vanilla cream, dark chocolate, pear, baked apple, sawdust, honey, earthy mint, clove, anise, moderate ethanol burn. Taste - salted caramel, vanilla, spiced apple, pear, apricot, peach, orange oil, dark chocolate, cherry jam, honey, anise, clove, spearmint, ginger, black pepper, rich oak, moderate alcohol bite, finishing long with apricot, stone fruit, and citrus oil flavors. For my 500th review, I wanted something special and likely to receive a high rating from me. And with t8ke giving this a rare perfect score, the 16 Year Gray Label Seagrass is as good as any to mark the occasion. However, I wasn’t particularly impressed with the standard Seagrass release, so let’s see how this stacks up. The nose is rich and darkly fruity with apricot, peach, dark chocolate, and a host of earthy rye spices. It’s unquestionably superior to the standard release’s. The palate is similarly darker, richer, and oilier. Those stone fruits are right up front with deep orange oil and sour cherry jam flavors. The mouthfeel is thick and the finish lingers pleasantly. I was asked to compare this with the standard Seagrass release. Well the results are in, and this is way better. It shares the same DNA, but fixes all the issues I had with the younger counterpart. The $250 price tag is questionable, but the quality isn’t. This isn’t perfect, but it’s outstanding and probably the best rye I’ve ever tried. A huge thank you to @pkingmartin for providing the generous sample!