The nose is pleasant enough … nothing outstanding … just good. Oak and fruit are the dominant characteristics. On the taste, this really shines. That fruit note really comes through with some nice spice. I’d say the fruit on the taste is apple or maybe pear, but that finish fruit is cherry. I don’t get much of the oak note. The most surprising part is the amount of spice that comes through on the taste, and on the backend. Because you don’t get any of that on the nose. With a better nose this bottle would really shine, but is still quite good and should be on the shelf especially given that it’s so easy to find.