It's really simple when you think about it, the taste of any fermentation is going to be the taste of what you put into it minus any of the sugars. Maple syrup is sugar and the liquid extract from a tree. So once you remove the sugar, all you have left is alcohol and the liquid extract from a tree.

It's actually one of the reasons that I think my need made from honey turned out to be so lovely, is once you take the sugar out of honey what you're left with is extract from flowers.