Nose: Apple pie, with cinnamon, pastry, mouth watering apples, and even ice cream. Rye is there but as an understatement or base for everything else. Taste: Sweet and hot, pie crust, pepper, nutmeg, cloves, apple skins, chili oil. Experience: Sitting on the back porch with Dave on a summer evening eating hot Apple Pie and ice cream. Perhaps Mauve is sniffing around chomping on the discarded apple cores. Epilogue: This whiskey was morbidly perfect. It is big and bold but equally friendly and complex, just like Dave. It was his favorite yet and comes in a coffin reminding us that while life is sweet it is also fleeting and best when shared with friends and loved ones. Final thoughts: look, no whiskey is "Worth" $400-$500. I bought this for sentimental reasons, I got into whiskey and rye in particular through Whistlepig, I talked with Dave Pickerell and he is a huge inspiration for me. This is a personal whiskey that I bought as a memory and a thank you to the boss hog. Dave's reason for the cost was to keep it from being flipped as anyone with a brain knows it's not worth $500 (his words). "this is something special for the fans" he'd say. unfortunately with his passing the hype has lead to hoarding and flipping, if this is you please open your bottles and share them with friends otherwise you're spitting on what Dave stood for. Buy this or any costly item for the experience, not for the "value".