The 8 year statement is impressive and confusing for what is obviously such a low-end whiskey. There's some earth on the nose with a bit of vegetation and a waft of mushroom. It's a light nose though. The palate is richer than that of the regular Ellington, though this means that it lets the gross caramel show through more, along with a new mushroom flavor. It tastes substantially more artificial than the regular Ellington does. The mushroom is interesting and there's a bit more tingling spice here, but the flavor is still simplistic and it doesn't come together. This is a hard one to drink. I think I'd rather have the regular Ellington. There is a bit of something rich in here that hints at honey and orange zest, but there's far too little and it doesn't overcome the gross flavors. In direct comparison, there is more going on here than in the regular Ellington, with some more appealing richness I suppose. Still though, it's not very good; that says more about my overrating the regular Ellington upon first taste than it does about me underrating this. There's more richness and character here than in the regular Ellington. It almost doesn't taste like paint thinner. It's a big improvement over regular Ellington, though it's still awful. It's quite different from black velvet, and while this does taste worse, I do appreciate its complexity. There's a bit of a rum flavor in here with some smoke like fireworks and sweetness. This has substantially more character than Black Velvet does.