Another note I've been long overdue to write; damn work anyway :-\ For a 50% ABV, the nose isn't overly hot, and it's quite easy to pull aromas of vanilla, caramel, and brown sugar. Because it's bourbon, amiright? Get past the fluff, and keep your nose on the bottom of the angled lip and you can pull out bubble gum (actually not a bad thing here), leather, and macerated grapes very similar to fine cognac. Occasional flashes of freshly plucked mint leaves and sawdust sometimes appear depending on how I catch the alcohol stream, but they never drown out the sweet. Palate is bold, rich, spicy, neither overly nor overly sweet, but you know without question it's a traditional bourbon. The typical vanilla, honey, caramel blend is strong here, but it's high-quality. Like comparing Safeway brand vanilla ice cream from the bucket to Haagen-Daaz Organic Vanilla Bean. It just tastes classy and upscale. Mid-palate this turns slightly warm and then they rye influence arrives in the form of cinnamon. But yet again, it's more the top-shelf specialty spice store cinnamon that you grind at home than the jar of McCormick's from Walmart. Finish is middling long, with wood tannin lending a bit of astringency to cut the sweet flavors before yielding to a pleasant Novocaine numbness around the tongue and gums. While it might sound heavy on the sweet side, it isn't, and the flavors are quite refined and clean. A standard-bearer for bourbon, and an excellent whisky by any standard. My musical equivalent would be the Highwaymen singing (what else?) Highwayman. Deep, melodic, and with a soul-stirring story to convey; an exquisite mix of many different styles to create one cohesive sound that set the standard for many years.