Neat. Neck pour. A friend found me a bottle of EC18! I have had it once at a bar (and I found that pour kinda gross...) but I have not owned my own bottle till now. I’m hoping my experience with higher aged bourbon or the luck of a good single barrel makes this worth the price. Okay my first notes may sound gross but I like it. Old wood, like antique furniture but freshly polished. Salted soft pretzel. It almost has a toasted barrel quality to it. Like a toasted coconut. Vanilla extract. And some leather too. This is dark. Hints of sweetness but mostly just dark and bitter. I like the smell though, like getting addicted to peat. I don’t know why I like it, but I like it and want another huff. Thin but all oily enough to really coat. Dark, bitter cherry up front. Mmm, the sweetness shows up. Mid-palate reminds me of a dense coffee cake that is also dipped into the coffee. The cake, sugar, cinnamon are there but it’s dunked into black coffee which brings the bitterness of the coffee. The finish is all oak and varnish. A toasted barrel sensation lingers and lingers. Very bitter on the finish too and that really grows without the help of water between sips. Huh. Okay I like this. It has many characteristics that are usually turn offs for me (more bitter and very little sweetness to even it out) but I like the Journey this lays out. The oak on this isn’t over oaked, it’s just strong oak. Glad I opened it tonight!