The first few sips (neat) I was thinking omg this is deliciously sweet, fruity and smooth. A few more sips later I was saying to myself this tastes more like scotch than bourbon (monkey shoulder, Glenfiddich, etc). But I still love it, bourbon or not. Veteran bourbon connoisseurs will more than likely snub it for not being "bourbon" enough, while us newbies to the world of bourbon will put it in our top ten because of how easy it is to sip neat.