Neat it smells very ethanoly, but was surprised by how easy it still went down without overbearing heat. The oak and rye comes through off the bat. Add a little water and the sweetness explodes. It became a very sweet and creamy rye bomb of cherry, oak and rye that went down extremely easy, while also having a lot of complexity to it. This goes near the top of my list and is instantly up as the favorite rye I have for drinking neat in my cabinet. This bottle has gotten me thinking I might be a rye person.