I struggle with this, it had a lot of hype to live up to. Considered a low 'allocated' it is basically not sitting on shelves commonly and is considered a 'find', a little less so than Eagle Rare. So those are the expectations, along with a $42 price tag. Frankly, it did not live up to expectations. Nose - promising, lots of corn, with a tinny bit of sweet sugars and musty oak. Not a vanilla bomb like Elijah Craig. Palate - Lots of cinnamon and dry nuts (not super strong peanuts). Nothing special about the mouth feel. A dry, astringent oak comes in, with not a lot of sweet to round it out. The oak feels 'green' ie young, and there's a light honey flavor that is overpowered by the barrel. Finish leans a little more towards the subtle sweet, but fades moderately fast. Save your money- buy Elijah Craig. $15 cheaper, and a much more well-rounded palate. Normal EC is also probably older (even though they dropped the age statement), and has a lot more of the sweet and vanilla I love in bourbon, compared to the corn and spice present in this over priced, over hyped bottle. If it was $32 dollars I still would probably pick EC over it... There are bottles you pay over MSRP for, but this absolutely not one of them.