Nose: Bit of an ethanol burn at first. After the hot start, its just a warm field of barley. There's a bit of an herbal punch back there with a bit of warm wildflower honey. Sweet, light butter and a slight orange citrus, more spice and a bit of toffee. Palate: Thick, sweet and deceivingly oily! The front of the tongue explodes with spicy herbal notes and oak spice while the back is a rolling wave of red fruit and floral honey. Sweet butter and deep malt envelope it all and persist into the finish. It's hard to keep track of everything going on because its wave after wave of changing flavors. There's something resembling a slightly smoked plum or grape in the middle that gives way to dry orange shortbread flavor. Finish: Long, warm, and slightly dry. The finish is definitely malt dominated, like a mouthful of sweet grain, vanilla honey, and a slight orange citrus. Conclusion: My heart sunk after taking a sniff of this - pretty one-dimensional and not all that much going on beneath the enthanol burn - but damn, a single sip of this takes you for a ride! It's this roiling, thick , sweet whiskey that continually changes between honey, spice, fruit, and loads of malt. You can taste the buttery grain for longer than it takes me to type this whole review. I'm glad I bought a whole bottle for myself along with this sample. Wouldn't hesitate to spend even a bit more on a bottle, though it'd definitely be an "occasion whiskey".