Oak on the nose, but not overwhelming. Admittedly this is the first crack at this bottle. With a little time to breath it transitions to dusty peanut shells with some floral and vanilla notes coming through. First sip is smooth and oak forward but perhaps even less so than some 12 year bourbons (notably Knob Creek 12, which is $30-40 less and should be widely available). It’s a medium body on the tongue with flavors of mild oak and cedar, tobacco, floral notes and still a bit of peanut butter on the medium finish. As someone who really enjoys big, high proof bourbons and especially Knob Creek store picks I would say this left me scratching my head wondering if the proof were higher if I’d like it more. Don’t get me wrong, it’s solid. For the age statement I would say you can get bigger oak flavor out of younger juice. I found this to be balanced and maybe with time it will show its age a bit more, hopefully becoming better rather than worse. Time will tell.