I have every version of Crown Royal available, that I know of anyways. Although I still haven't tried any of the Noble editions or the Crown Royal XR Red from the Waterloo collection, I just opened my spare bottle of XR Blue. I'm not an experienced whiskey connoisseur so I'll just explain it from an everyday guys point of view. The first taste was very smooth with hints of vanilla. Very nice. About 2 minutes later my second taste was more spicey with a little more heat as I swallowed it, more similar to regular Crown Royal deluxe. But it was the third taste and the others afterwards that really were the best. Very smooth, no spicy burn, just a wonderful smooth taste throughout. I wouldn't add any water or ice since it is very smooth and easy going. I'm not going to try to explain any flavors or smells, I'm definitely not that experienced to explain that. I will say I've had Glendronach 15yr Revival and 18yr Scotch and those are better in my opinion. But if you can get this for around $100-$120, and you love Regular Crown Royal you probably wont be disappointed. I like the Cask 16 and Monarch slightly better, but this is still an excellent Canadian Whiskey. I can't wait to open my Red Bottle of XR!