Nose wows with black cherry, old mahogany furniture, brown sugar, creme brûlée, saltwater taffy (?), newspaper pulp. cola, sun dried tomato, and Spanish peanut. Ethanol is low for the proof. I could nose this forever. Palate brings black cherry, gooey chocolate syrup, the crème brûlée from the nose, sticky pipe tobacco, toasted wood, French vanilla, overripe date, and a musty flavor that I can’t quite put my finger on, so I’ll call it “rickhouse funk”. A very “dark” tasting whiskey. Flavors are extremely rich and punchy. Medium length finish gets sharply spicy. Cinnamon, pink peppercorn, an almost charcoal like barrel char, bitter oak, leather, berry, and some unattenuated ethanol. Tart sour cherry after everything else fades. Kind of a letdown with how fast it morphed into a spice bomb. Mouthfeel is unctuous and extremely oily which would be fantastic if the finish was better. I picked this up at Total Wine for under MSRP at $120, and I’m not unhappy with it per se. The best comparison is probably Elijah Craig barrel proof, which is often better for a lower price. That said, I liked it but I feel this this could have been great and due to the flawed the finish winds up being just in the “good” catagory.