Additional tasting and I can say this is the best American bourbon I have tasted thus far. This difference was noticed when tasting this vs Eagle Rare vs Col. E.H. Taylor. All in all (although I like the nose better on Taylor) Blanton’s was the hands down winner. Blanton’s seemed to have a dry earthyness to it that made it stand out. I kept feeling that I was eating red Alabama Clay when tasting Blanton’s. Now, I can’t explain why, but that puts Blanton’s in a category of “experience” rather than a “tasting”. Such an experience, for me, is the highest complement I can give to a whiskey as it puts it in a similar category of a Scottish Single malt which is my favored drink.