I am by no means a sophisticated drinker but I am fairly picky when it comes to drinking my liquor straight (or with ice). I've tried a few that weren't my favorite but this is by far the worst.
The taste, while I guess you could call it "smokey", reminds me of the smell of a dead animal that has been left out in the sun to rot. I saw that it won a gold medal for something... But now I realize it was in some San Francisco competition and I don't like/agree with anything San Francisco related.
Sorry for the rant, it just sucks to spend money on a whiskey that tastes like smoked rotten meat.