I'm a Beam fan. Beam bottled in bond is a regular in my rotation. I wrote about Beam single barrel in this comparison - https://bourbonsippers.com/three-affordable-single-barrel-bourbons-you-should-try/. I always have Knob Creek at hand as its one of my four primaries - joining Beam cousin Old Grand Dad 114 in the cabinet. I thought Beam Distiller's Cut was a crazy good budget whiskey. I confess all of that to say that I'm pretty confident right up front that I'll like Old Tub. But its not a "done deal". I didn't like Beam Pre Prohibition Style enough to buy a second bottle. My last (only) bottle of Beam white lable ended up a drain pour when I relocated and it hasn't (and likely won't ever) be replaced. So.. First taste neat from a glencairn from a freshly opened bottle. A few minutes were given for the whiskey to settle - and this wasn't the neck pour as I had a couple "tempering" snorts on ice at the conclusion of the working day. The nose is absolute Beam. Boiled peanuts, vanilla, oak, cinnamon and ethanol. There's just the slightest hint of latex paint - something I get from a lot of young or brash booze. The taste is surprisingly sweet with some graham cracker, a bit of honey and just a hint of barrel char. As the flavor fades out there's a bit of clove, then ginger and cinnamon redhots. The finish is fast and leaves a bit of a tingle and a sweet coating with just the slightest bit of bitter oak on the back of the tongue. This is solid. I need to do a sbs with Distiller's Cut (no longer available) and Bottled-in-Bond (nearly identical price). I think the Bib is aged a bit longer and maybe is more cohesive? But this is a very good, NCF, 100 proof budget bourbon. Better than EWbib, VOBbib, and a few others, but bested by OGDbib and KC9yr. I don't know why this exists, beyond marketing. Beam already has a plethora of choices around this price point. This is good, but replaceable. And yet it replaces nothing good. Unless it hits the $17.99 close-out price point of DC, I don't see any reason for me to jump on another bottle, even though I'm enjoying this one just fine.