This bottle is around 4-5 years old now and in my bourbon infancy got me around to drinking my whiskey neat - and enjoying it! Now it’s 4/5ths empty and largely neglected. I compare quite a lot to it so I figured it was time to open it back up and make sure my memory isn’t totally off the rails. The color is a nice red amber. The nose hits more than a foot away from the glass. Toasted marshmallow, slight furniture polish, lots of buttery caramel. As I walk outside with it there’s a swift change to ripe red raspberries, dry oats and earthy notes. The plate... smooth and fades quickly. If only the flavors could be as robust as the nose. Earthy Lipton tea, burned marshmallow, some vanilla, butterscotch and a tiny bit of anise. I could nose this all night. A cask strength expression could be absurd. As is this was a great entry bottle. ——— Bottle kill update - much if the above holds true but the palate seemed to come up several notches in feel and in finish. Maybe there was separation of unappreciated sediment? Still a mahogany color and Wurthers butterscotch bomb in the nose but heavier mouthfeel, a hearty dash of cinnamon and still plenty of toasted marshmallow, Lipton tea or tobacco and just a pinch of anise and slight rasin. By the end this bottle reminded me of my favorite bottle of Noah’s Mill (and better than my second bottle of the same) but with more spice and less leather. Score goes back up to at least a 3.5-3.75 and I’m left wondering about a single barrel selection when I have space in my cabinet to replace this one - something I’m looking forward to for those nights when sweet and mellow is in order.