Nose: The nose carries its high-rye recipe well with notes of brown sugar, mint and citrus (orange) zest that reminds me of the classic 95/5 rye whiskey notes. It’s still plenty sweet with a good amount of fruit to be found throughout like black cherries and some raisins. The “buttery” trademark scent is easy to detect and comes off like an all-butter pie crust. I can even detect a nice layer of vanilla too. The one thing that isn’t as strong as I thought it would be on the nose? Oak. It’s still there, but nowhere near as dominant as it was on the 10-13 year old barrels I’ve tried in the past.

Palate: The fruit notes stand out first with more cherries and citrus fruit flesh. The spices amp up with notes of cinnamon and anise (licorice). But whereas the nose didn’t impress me with its oak, the flavors I find on the palate show that they are all still here. Seasoned oak, barrel char and leather add a nice depth of age. Honey keeps things sweet and vanilla cream round everything else out. This is a hard-hitting, classic MGP bourbon right here.