Pours an oily, burnt orange color with some legs. The nose has some spice, but also some yeast. It's rye bread, but also reminds me of sourdough (even though there doesn't seem to be any wheat in the mash bill). Overripe bananas and kindergarten glue. Corn syrup and lacquered wood. Nutty, like walnuts in a brownie. Hints of vanilla and potpourri. The taste is vanilla with a touch of that glue. It has a very dry texture, which dovetails nicely with some peanut dust flavors. The oak char really hits, not unlike the bottom of a burnt cookie. The back of the palate picks up some orange peel and cherry, adding a sweet respite to some of the darker flavors. It finishes with dark and spicy notes: oak, fennel, pumpernickel and pepper spice. There is ton of char: all ten years of it seeped into it. And tannins galore -- puckery and metallic. Russell's 10 is a terrific value for the amount of flavor you get. It's dark and dry, with lots of burn in the flavor, if not a ton of heat. And yet it's oily texture makes it go down easy.