Nose: sweet fruits, oranges, smoke, orchard blossoms Palate: first citrus, butterscotch, and honey, then peppery spice shows up very strong. Behind the spice is the malt. Finish: this is where the smoke shows up, not very strong. There is a hint of peat, reminiscent of Highland Park. There is also a very slight hint of honey. The pepper spice is very intense and lingers on, almost a little overpowering. This is a very good scotch but not great. I heard so much about this whisky and had high hopes. It’s not nearly as smoky or peaty as I thought it would be. I don’t have any JW Black to do a side by side. I would say it is smokier than JW Black, but not a lot smokier. It’s not as smoky as Highland Park 12. I was definitely caught off guard by the pepper spice, which I wasn’t expecting. It doesn’t show up on the nose at all, but it’s the most prominent flavor on the palate and the finish, at times overpowering and hiding some of the other flavor notes.