Lovely burnished amber to the eye. Nose is probably the best part. Sweet wood varnish, vanilla cream, hazelnut, and caramelized apples. There’s not a ton of the Palo Carto influence coming through on the nose. In a blind lineup, I would pick this as a potentially overaged high rye straight bourbon whiskey. On the palate doesn’t drink like a rye. Spice level is low to medium. You get a major hit of bitter wood tannin upfront which can be hard to process but it dies down after a couple sips. You still get a good dose of rich vanilla and caramel flavor but still little to no indication of a fortified wine finish. This one loves a lot of water and airtime. Then the wine fruits and sweetness come through although very dry. There’s toasted nuts and grilled dense fig. It’s much more interesting and enjoyable with oxygen and H2O. I find myself reaching for another pour of this more than I thought I would. A bit of an enigma this one. I’m very confident this will make a killer and most unique rye old-fashioned or Manhattan. I keep going back and forth on getting another bottle. 🤔