The nose on this high-proof dancer is incredible. Deep, dark-colored fruit practically coats the mouth before even taking a sip. This is not going to be your normal toffee-heavy bourbon; it's more of a pit fruit kind of bourbon (some describe it as apricot-y, but it'd have to be a mighty dark apricot. This is more like a ripe plumb). Immediately from the dark depths of smooth, spicy fruit springs a complex layer of toasted coconut---but this is not the light coconut one tastes in Tullamore D.E.W., but a golden brown, *toasted* coconut with a gentle marshmallowy sugariness beckoning beneath it. All of this comes to pass as promised upon taking a sip. This one's finish doesn't rush to smack your palate into submission like spicier high-ryes, but make no mistake: from the moment you sip, the finish is surging...calmly. Somehow. Yes, this finish is with you from the beginning, taking you through a musical progression, in which each of the above flavors takes a turn, at first hesitantly overlapping with the others before they fully converge at the crescendo. Welcome now to the long plum spice lullaby to close you out. At this point you realize: at no point throughout all this have you had to endure astringency or staleness. Its spice is inseparable from the sweet, the sugary fruit always accompanied by the fresh bite from when it's freshly picked. She's a graceful lady, this one. Treat her with respect---at 114.3 proof, she's got the legs to knock you down, but she'll be gracious to anyone who is a gentleman. //1oz pour at Jack Rose Dining Saloon in DC, $8 // Something my novice taste doesn't know how to describe or place after just a single pour is the leather. Just trust me: it works.