This has always stood out as a favorite of mine, just a really tasty bourbon, and unlike many other readily available offerings. This bottle has sat in the cabinet for quite some time now. Let’s dive into it more thoroughly. Pour in the snifter looks deep amber and borders on diluted iodine, it’s that dark and rich in color. Long legs creep slowly down after a heavy swirl. The nose is awash of syrupy sweetness, it’s rich and unapologetic. Tricky to break down at first, but I’m getting sweet oak, dark brown sugar, a hint of maple, and a wall of old fashioned candy sweetness. After a good twenty minutes in the glass, the nose remains rich and inviting, beckoning me in. It’s hard to move on from just talking in the smell… First sip is hot and almost salty-briny tasting. Second sip much less hot, but not awash with flavors as I might’ve expected. My palate may be off starting out. Some crackers and water might help. Intermission. Coming back to the glass, the difference is night and day. Creamy mouthfeel, earthy sweetness, and no alcohol burn on the first large sip. Second sip has oak, subtle caramel, and some black pepper. More sips intimate an herbal note, like thyme, along with the corn-fueled candy sweetness well balanced with an okay backbone characteristic of Woodford bourbon. The balance is impressive, although the flavor palate not as expansive as the nose might suggest. This is definitely Woodford Reserve bourbon, but it’s dressed to the nines. ZZ Top would be proud. The finish is slightly warming, fairly drawn out, and leaves me with subtle tobacco and borders on bitter oak. Definitely fairly earthy, maybe some maple wood chips in there too. I’m not picking up much sweetness or spice, just the slow fade of earthy flavors and gentle warmth. It’s as if the nose is the peak of the sweetness, the finish peaks in the balancing earthiness, and the sip itself combines the two in-between to a meticulous balance of sweet and earthy. The overall experience is good, but on a different day I might say it’s great; not so today. Perhaps my palate is still not fully cooperating. Perhaps this has sat in the cabinet longer than is ideal. But I could smell this all day, and *almost* be satisfied with that. The nose is ethereal, so good it’s hard to believe; the sip, balanced and approachable; and the finish brings me back to reality, in a neutral sort of way. After such a wonderful nose and the finely delicate balance, I just wish I could pull out more complexity on the palate. Have to go 4/5 here with this one.