Nose... Maple candied walnuts, cinnamon, cherry, apricots and a hint of vanilla. Appearance... A nice light mahogany. Taste... Rich and buttery it's corn dominant. Fruits like plum and orange come forward, followed by a nice pepper seasoning. Overall... I'm happy they ran the sale on this bottle, because I normally shy away from Beam. I have felt consistently that certain Bourbons or Whisky's would find themselves that much more enjoyable had they been bottled at the right age and proofed at the worthy alcohol percentage. Sometimes though, Beam and others seem to run on a tight margin and apparently the masses love brown water as opposed to brown liquor which keeps their profits in the black. This Beam though scoffs at that premise, as it's good to go...