The scent is faint, almost evades the nose. Has a bit of sweetness to it, but beside that it is very bland. The taste on the other hand is very strong and goes down hard on the very first sip. Even letting it sit with the ice and get a bit soft, it will still have the bite for a long while. The taste and the smokiness does remind me on Jack Daniels. So if you like JD, you will like this as well. It is a good middle ground. It doesn't play with the senses as others would, but if you need a good kick in the mouth after a bad day. You can count on this.