Nose: There are lots of strong rye notes. You can’t escape the herbal properties of lemongrass, pine forest, star anise, and wildflower blooms. There’s also a baked goods element kind of like pumpernickel bread. Then the spice and citrus notes of lemon curd, ginger root and even a faint honey sweetness rounds out the nose nicely.
Palate: The pallet starts off without much sweetness. There’s heavy rye spice, white pepper, a small amount of dill, dried oak, lemon zest and cinnamon. As the dram goes on, the palate does get slightly sweeter with some gingerbread and the sweetness is more reminiscent of butterscotch than brown sugar or caramel. Still, the young age is apparent in this because all of the initial flavors tend to be more harsh without the sweetness available to round them all out.
Finish: Heavy white and black pepper lead the way along with ginger root spice to make a finish that is full of heat. But there’s also a bit of mint and menthol cooling effect to keep it somewhat in check. The finish also reveals some coarse cereal grains. The longer I sit, the more sweet the aftertaste becomes in my mouth. The finish is surprisingly long.