Color: Medium Copper-Amber Nose: Sweet, oaky nose. Similar to many bottles that have come before it, yet with an added hint of chocolate covered cherries... or like a cakey chocolate donut. Oh-so-slight astringency. A promising nose. Palate: For pour #1, I opted to take it neat... somewhat syrupy mouthfeel, spicy oak assaults the taste buds from the get-go. I find this to be a common profile with most "Oak Finished" bourbons that I've had. Mild chest hug. Sweetness comes through on subsequent sips, which balances things out. Ahhh... there it is. Black licorice comes through at the back of the palate. Like black licorice cough drops. Pour #2 with an ice cube... the addition of ice definitely opens this one up a bit, and tamps-down the general spiciness and delivers a more focused "baking spice" profile — like nutmeg or cloves. Finish: Medium-short with the baking spices lingering. Final Thoughts: I'd heard about these Old Charter Oak releases by Buffalo Trace, but I could never find them (not that I was looking for them specifically). Just seemed like one of those limited releases that I would never see, and if I did, they would be criminally marked-up. During my daily trip to my grocery store today, I spied a few bottles sitting behind the glass. Upon checking out what this fairly new release is going for online, I went back immediately and grabbed a bottle. This is one of those bottles, as I had suspected, that stores (storefront and online) are up-charging ridiculously. I've seen it going for anywhere from $179.00 to as much as — wait for it — $1499.99! Hahahaha! My point being... I snagged this for under a hundred bucks today. It is very good bourbon, no doubt. But I would not spend more than what I did. It is certainly not worth the outrageous markups I've seen. However, if you can find it for SRP, grab it. But don't pay much more than that. I'm giving this 4.0 stars, all things considered.