Nose: Holy shit, I can’t believe this is a 2 year old spirit. This smells like a perfect love child between cognac and calvados. Black pepper. Celery. Old Bay Spice. Browned butter. Apple butter, spiced apple sauce. Nutty. Subtle rancio. Intense brown sugar. With water, more vanilla comes out.

Palate: This is super fun, I can’t wait to see how this evolves with time. Leather, tobacco, high notes from the apple. Light molasses. Surprisingly drinkable at nearly 70% 😛 There is some rum ester / funk vibe here. Rose hips. With water this comes to life. I rarely water down but this needs it.

Rating: 5 / 10 – this 5 is totally temporary as I think it will definitely increase with a bit more maturation. I look forward to buying a bottle.