The sweet, caramelized sugar easily comes to nose in the glass, but it is backed by a large amount of oak wood. The first taste is reminiscent of the 12 year version of this rum, but the oak starts pounding away quite quickly on the way down. One might think spice is coming up to the finish, but a little extra time has you realizing that this is simply the very heavy oak flavor that's taking you over. Honestly, if you didn't tell me this was rum, I would be very confused and asking you what kind of bourbon you served me.