Nice bourbon in the under $30 range, just not my favorite. Despite its high expert rating, I'm not a huge fan of EW SiB. There's not a lot of rich deep flavors or complexity here that warrant such a high rating IMO. I tend to prefer more barrel forward woody notes and a nicer nose and palate with a nice spiciness kick. This bourbon doesn't really check any of those boxes for me. It's not bad per se, just not my style. Enjoyed neat from a Glencairn. My bottle was put in oak in 2009 and bottled in 2017. Nose is somewhat fruity and honeyed, but mostly nail polish remover funkiness for me. Not a great start. Palate offers some initial grain sweetness but not much complexity with light cinnamon spiciness and virtually no barrel wood. Very thin watery mouthfeel seems similar to EW 1783 here. Sweetness quickly gives way to a tartness in the mouth. Finish is fairly short with no outstanding quality, not much to write home about there either. After a while the finish does give way to a very faint barrel wood but not nearly enough richness for my palate. Due to the lower proof and low spiciness it's definitely smoother I guess if that's what you're after. In the under $30 category this is certainly not my first choice. I'd go for Buffalo Trace or Turkey 101 all day or even Bulleit and for just a few $ more the Four Roses Small Batch, Eagle Rare, or Knob Creek which far outclasses the EW SiB in quality and flavor. Heck I think I even prefer the cheaper Evan Williams 100 proof BiB to the SiB variety. In all honesty, I feel like the EW SiB is a slightly amped up but more refined version of 1783. Both are thin and watery, offer similar flavor characteristics, with the only real difference being a slightly increased cinnamon spiciness in the SiB that is completely absent from 1783. The SiB isn't bad and I don't dislike it, just not my jam. I think if this one were around $20 or slightly under, it would be worth it, but nearing $30 there are simply far superior choices. Cheers!