Did I just step into a bakery? And by bakery, I mean a real, bread bakery, not a pastry bakery. The nose of this rye smells like multi-grain bread, with a dollop of flaxseed and oats. The background is a little dash of sweet butterscotch and honey. The first sip is watery, but perhaps that's the aftereffect of following a 2 oz pour of the more robust Russell's Reserve. The taste also has some bread-like characteristics and is a little medicinal. The palate is the weak suit of this whiskey, because there really is not much there. The finish is medium length, still bready, a little tart, and very spicy -- as if all that rye spice pops up in the finish. It's very smooth, and at $20 a bottle, a pretty strong value play, which probably could be a good cocktail mixer because of that nice finish (and in a cocktail, its thin body will be bolstered by the other ingredients). The empty glass has an aroma of caramel and vanilla, as if it was a bourbon rather than a rye, which is unexpected. I wonder why those flavors didn't show up to the party earlier!