Nose opens with…yup there it is; banana Runts candy. Luckily there is a little more here as well as we also get caramel, vanilla, shoepeg corn, black cherry, cola, and a light touch of oak. Total lack of ethanol for a 100 proof is almost wizardry and you can literally almost snort it without catching a nasal burn. Palate opens with the banana from the nose, but then takes a nice turn with candy corn, cola nut, flan, and grape. This is definitely a sweeter whisky, although the notes are light enough to keep it from falling into the “dessert whiskey” category. Flavors come off a little delicate, which I’d say is a feature not a bug, but your mileage may vary. Tasty. Finish is a slow, subtle shift (a plus for me) and is quite good but oh so short. The black cherry from the nose surfaces and mixes with the cola from the palate giving a cherry coke note, along with cinnamon and more soft sweet oak. Mouthfeel is thin bodied, and while I wouldn’t go so far as to call it “watery”, I definitely wanted a more robust body. There are some adjectives to describe this: Crushable (it is very easy to keep sipping and next thing you know you 3/4 of the way through your pour). Unchallenging. Comfortable; the whiskey equivalent of an old tennis shoe. So, I’m not going to lie…I like this. I know it’s not great whiskey, but the mouth likes what the mouth likes. Kind of like Jack In The Box tacos or Pizza Rolls. Why do we like them? I don’t know, we just do. At $30, this holds its own or beats other major players in the price range (Elijah Craig, Buffalo Trace) but falls short of the depth and complexity of say a Wild Turkey 101. That said, would I buy it again when in the mood for something different? I could see that happening.