Nose - Sweet dark vanilla caramels, dark chocolate covered toffee, hint of cherry cough syrup, hint of marzipan nutty sweetness. Taste - Vanilla oak brown sugar simple dominates, light cinnamon burn, hint of spicy cinnamon mole chocolate sauce, late appearance of a splenda-like cherry syrup. Finish - Lingering cinnamon heat sweetness, vanilla brown sugar simple makes a resurgence which transitions to a lightly oaky splenda-like sweetness that finally finishes in this odd herbal funk. Score - 86/100 Final Thoughts - I can definitely tell the difference the additional aging with the "seared French oak staves" does to this. It adds this nice chocolate and fruit note that helps mask the splenda sweet taste I get from the standard Maker's quite a bit. When I first nosed this, I immediately thought that it smelled very similar to Woodford Reserve Double Oak and upon tasting, it was quite similar although I will have to give the edge to Woodford on that one as it doesn't have any trace of this splenda-like sweetness I get from Maker's.