500ml @ Matt's parents' place with a scenic view. Appearance: dark brown with a beige head. Aroma: cassia bark, some coconut and chocolate. Taste: along the same lines, some weird cola character with some spicy notes coming from the rye. Overall: ok, but I am not really impressed.

Bottle (9/26/21) pour from Schnucks. Appearance is opaque black with no sparkle, nice viscosity, no head or lacing. Aroma is strong cinnamon, coconut, sugar and milder rye. Taste is strong rye, cinnamon (like cinnamon raisin bread), sugar, milder coconut, cacao, roasted malt. Mouthfeel is light-to-medium bodied with smooth texture, soft carbonation and finish as taste. Overall, good complexity though not all flavors equally balanced, and a bit on the sweet, syrupy side and, while the rye grain is present it's surprisingly thin on rye booze/barrel. Enjoyable but, for the price, expected more.

Media Preview bottle, stoppered since October. Looks like it may have gone flat, so I'll try to rate with that in mind. Not a solid black, but deep brown, especially at the edge. I get the same cinnamon and coconut in the nose that I recall at the preview. Some whiskey notes in the smell as well. Taste has thickened up, which might be partly due to its loss of carbonation. But it's redolent with the cassia and coconut. The cocoa has had a bit of a chance to peek through now, but it's part of the bourbon finish in the background. My rating is tempered more by the coconut, which doesn't thrill me, than having gone flat (and unless you cork it up after opening, you won't have that problem).