The nose is fragrant with rye spice.  The rye on the palate is a bit muted with a tinny note, but toward the end in bursts through.  The finish is full of rye and pepper.

Certainly a good whiskey, but these 1985 distilled ryes seem to be fading a bit more each year.  Maybe it has to do with the time in stainless (8 years and counting). 

B/B+

N: Gently spicy on the nose with some cinnamon and black pepper, a fair amount of wood, a far-off pine quality. Light sweetness as well; quite mellow with age. Faint orchard-type scents; a little floral. Reminds me of the kind of subtly floral quality of a really ripe Fuji apple when you smell near the stem.