With a rich nose like warm maple syrup, it's hard to miss that this is a flavored whisky. But the maple smells real, like breakfast in a Vermont diner. It's also good that it's not sickly sweet and thick; the mouthfeel is like good Crown with maple flavor, not a big wad of syrup. So if you like flavored whiskies, bring on the Canadian cocktails and ice cream: this is the good stuff.