Nose: Cereals, malt syrup (if you've ever brewed beer) Golden raisins Toffee Pears in syrup Baked apples Pepper (pink?) Sweet smoke Thyme Taste: Toffee and cereal notes come through. Distiller.com's review mentions "aggressive phenols". I love scotch and peaty scotch, but my wallet isn't deep enough to try them a lot, and I'd say that "aggressive phenols" describes the fistful of flavor, in which I'm having a hard time picking out individual notes. Maybe a little grassy? Slight brine. Flavor rides into the sunset on an oak tannin note. Overall a really awesome whiskey. Wish a little more of the sweetness teased by the nose showed up in the taste, but that's really a nit pick.