Nose is soft and sweet; vanilla, caramel, honey and a little crème brûlée. Based on nose alone you’d never think this was 117 proof. The first sip however, will quickly and forcefully remind you, battering first your tongue and then your sinuses with a surge of hot cinnamon and burning menthol. A Norlan glass helps a little, but not as much as you’d like. Palate is just ho-hum…there’s your vanilla and your caramel chatting nicely, waiting for sugar and spice to introduce themselves when the brash cinnamon and oak twins crash the party and make so much noise that everyone else heads for the door. Abrupt end, and all that really lingers is astringent heat. Too bad. Even with water it’s still a bit hot, but at least the palate is manageable enough to get a little bubble gum and cooking spices to show before again fading to cinnamon and not quite as pronounced wood. If this was 4 years old and $40, I would be more accepting. At 7 years and $70 it competes with Knob Creek 120, Jack Daniel’s SBBP, Elijah Craig BP, and Maker’s Mark CS. It’s true that many of these have a different flavor profile, but that’s kind of my point; they aren’t just hotter, old(er) versions of a core line that brings only the bare minimum of stereotypical bourbon flavors…through careful cask management or no filtering or just not adding water, they offer an experience that is much removed from the standard line, and this just doesn’t.