This is what EC18 should be. Very similar, but much more balanced and not as oak-heavy. There's a lot of oak and tobacco up front but it's well done with a nice balance of just a touch of all spice and vanilla. The oily mouthfeel and finish is where it really shines for me- where the EC18 just got woodier, this continued to evolve for a long time. I'm not into oaky flavor profiles- but this is a perfect balance between the proof, oak, and sweeter flavors trying to peek through. This is a wonderfully balanced bourbon and if you like oak, this is the perfect pour-- it loses points for the price and secondary hype for me. Between this, ec18, and kc18- the KC18 wins hands down (despite also being overpriced to me).