I'm fairly certain I did not know this product even existed up until a few weeks ago when I saw it specifically listed as the spirit in a cocktail. The name is intriguing enough that I had to ask what it was, where I then learned about the Heaven Hill product with an fun film history. A few days later, when stocking up a liquor store, I found this accidentally, mostly because the label looks nothing like how I pictured it in my head. It's bland, dull, unattractive, and simple in a bad way, which made me think that was why I found it on the bottom shelf. The extremely cheap price tag almost turned me away (you get what you pay for), but I remembered the bartender from before telling me this was one of the best bonded bourbons for the price, so here we are. Interestingly enough, this same recommendation was echoed by the cashier at the store, so I'm hoping I'm in for a treat here. The color is simple and fairly light, but as expected for 4 years aged; given the cheap price and availability almost anywhere, I would be astonished to find out this was aged a day over 4 years. From a distance, the ethanol jumps from the glass, but smells raw with a hint of young corn. Up close, the same scent is amplified and slightly off-putting, with a touch of mid-aged rye behind that. The oak is present in several different ways: buttery and sweet up front, but eventually turns into dry and bitter. Very little ethanol burn; this hits the nose like more of a 90 proof. The initial body is light and dry, with a bitterness from what tastes like charcoal filtering following. The body warms a bit more, with tasted flavors of slightly spicy and grassy rye as a separate note. This same rye hits the front of the gums pretty hard, but lingers only in heat and not necessarily flavor. The finish is a little less hot, and becomes dry and more easily approachable and dissectable the longer time goes on. This is also when a nutty flavor comes into play, which is another common flavor component of charcoal filtering. I'm definitely pretty ignorant when it comes to the reason why American whiskey is filtered at all, let alone through charcoal as a common source. I know of charcoal's filtering properties, so that's not that unusual, but with so many unfiltered or less intrusive filtering methods and products out there that show incredible success, why is this method still being practiced so much? Tennessee whiskey is one thing, but other American whiskey with this charcoal flavor seem to be correlated with cheap and mass-produced mega-brands, and I have to wonder who's buying enough of these products to keep them in production. Unfortunately with the extreme price hikes in the whiskey market right now, it stands to reason that the incredibly low prices of this and similar whiskies may be attracting buyers simply because of the affordability, with a sacrifice on taste just to save a little money. It's all speculation, of course, but it seems like a specific product that incites this type of questioning may not be the best spend for those with this line of thinking.