This has been sitting in the back of my cabinet for some time (years!) without review. Now. Tasted neat. Big tannic oak bare knuckle brawny, spicy five alarm fire, and an ethanol punch. That's the summation. But it has a caramel butterscotch nose and mouth taste under all that cask strenth rye spice essence. It's sweet (even floral vanilla) under all the char oak. It has a long tingling mouthfeel finish. It's a challange, and I say that as someone who loves spicy ryes. I've been drinking this with ice to temper it (before putting it away for a while), and that (ice or cold water) is my recommendation.