Nose: brown sugar, molasses, cherry, rye towards licorice Taste: can definitely feel the proof, rye, clove, caramel, oak Finish: the rye note persists, salty, almost a minty fresh feeling with my tongue tingling from the alcohol After reading reviews: maple syrup on the nose makes some sense though to me it was darker like molasses, I didn’t really get the buttery note that Distiller focused on. Overall, I’m hoping this opens up a bit as I work down the bottle (this was the neck pour).