Rating: 8/23 I vaguely recall hearing that this was good value, but not amazing. It's hard for me to get, so maybe not the best value for me, but I'm looking forward to trying it. N: Oh, no. This is really light with alcohol wafts. Digging past that, I get half-hearted apple sweetness mixed with a boring first-aid kit (probably a lot of it is just acetaminophen) and a kind of sour smoky meat. It doesn't smell like a very cooked meat though and it's fairly unappetizing. Clean creek water with a bit of minerality. Dirt with faint, stale tobacco. This nose is unfortunately not good. P: Smoky, but not super big and bold. Restrained with faint orchard fruits (apple, white peach). Hefty vanilla with some sweet bourbon barrel spices, but also clean creek water with faint minerality. This palate is all over the place. It almost tastes like someone is trying to assemble it on the fly and they really aren't getting it assembled nicely. Occasional notes of alcohol. That sweetness is kind of just like sugar water. Ugh, but then that sourness. I'm not really liking this. There's a bit of ashtray going on, but it's kind of good. There's some malt after all, so that's nice too. There's also a lot of burn that is actually kind of harsh. I'm still not liking this, but I'll take the improvement. F: Lingering bourbon barrel spices. Sweet, clean creek water. Definitely a bit of hummingbird feeder vibes going on here. Some faint, stale tobacco as well. - Conclusion - This seems like a nice value dram, but it really is lacking the richness and coherence that Johnnie Walker Green has. I was surprised by how sweet this is and while I don't dislike that, it comes across a bit much like this was watered down with sugar water. This is certainly not making it up to a 14, but it isn't going down to an 8 either. I think a 13 is out too because of the burn. Picking now, I'd probably go with a 9. Huh, I'm getting the impression that this is less sweet, less full, more bitter, and more harsh than The Sexton. Maybe an 8 is a possibility. This certainly isn't higher than a 10. What a disappointment. Yeah, I'm thinking an 8 or a 9 now. I'm leaning toward an 8, but I was considering much higher than that previously, so I might go for a 9. No: I think I need to give a rating based on what I'm tasting now and that's an 8. That harshness and burn (presumably from the grain whisky) really kneecaps this. And there just isn't much else going for this. It's kind of like they added some smoke to make this more interesting and full, but it got bitter as a result and lost its elegance.