Pours a deep gold into a rocks glass (sans rocks). Nose has some ethanol and is quite spicy...but also brown sugar and vanilla to keep it from being too 'rye like'. But seriously, this is spicier than I remember it being in the past (bottle is about 1/3 empty, so I've done some damage in the past couple years). Flavor is bold, and outstanding, and fairly long...and I don't get nearly the spice on the palate...but more fruit, brown sugar, vanilla, and maybe a note of cinnamon. A splash of water softens the nose a bit and admittedly opens up the flavors a bit, but doesn't seem to introduce anything new or rewarding. Don't find this particularly wheat-forward, but it is more evident on the palate. Decent legs...this is a nice sipper. Got this bottle nice and cheap back in the day...and for $55, this is an absolute steal