Nose is full of brown sugar, pine, barrel char, molasses, vanilla bean, custard, oak, clove, stone fruit, and leather. Very complex. Ethanol nearly nonexistent. Palate differs from the nose in the sense that much more traditional vanilla/caramel/cinnamon notes are prevalent, which is in no way a bad thing. Also more barrel char, almond butter, black cherry, peanut, and clove. Long smooth finish is where things really become elevated with a slow morph into creme brûlée, soft, sweet oak, charcoal, black pepper, tobacco, mint, and a delightful hint of raspberry. Mouthfeel is medium bodied with just a hint of graininess. My tongue wanted full bodied and silky; I guess you can’t have everything. Overall a delightful whiskey with no major flaws, and a nice example of “highly aged” bourbon. I paid $149.99 which isn’t crazy over retail but yet still pretty pricy. Did I enjoy it? Yes. Would I run out and buy it again for that price? Almost certainly not. Hard to rate since 4.0 = rebuy status for me but I can’t say that this is a sub 4.0 whiskey. I’m going to not factor in price on this rating. 4.25