The nose is fairly muted...mostly vanilla and wood, with a hint of anise and clove. Palate starts just slightly sweet and smooth before immediately giving you a blast of cinnamon red-hots and lumber. Not a hint of wood. Lumber. If you grew up heating your house with firewood, it's almost the same as the taste you get from inhaling hours of chainsaw dust as you rip through the semi-seasoned pile of lumber in the heat of summer hoping to get through it before the first snow flies. For anyone else, go to the home store and smell a stack of rough-cut 4"x4" posts. Maybe lick one to get the full affect. If you stick around for a few minutes and let the glass breath you might detect a bit of mincemeat and dark cherries hidden beneath the cinnamon, but the finish is all spice and wood. I had high hopes for this, but at $35/bottle, I'd stick with E.W. Single Barrel or Elijah Craig Small Batch.