Real Maple Syrup. What does it taste like? UPDATE in OP

Real maple syrup is heavenly. What does the packaging say? I think I would contact the company.

That's weird -- maple syrup IS wonderful. It's not as thick as the fake stuff, but very sweet. I wonder what you got?

The syrup will not taste as sweet as the fake crap. The flavour will be delicate and subtle. You're definitely never going to get the bombastic yuck flavour you get with the fake crap. It takes a lot of people time to get used to the change in flavour, but it's worth it to go with the wonderful real stuff. The flavour becomes more dominant the more that the syrup is reduced. For example, maple sugar has a much more dominant flavour than syrup because it's cooked down so much more. 

I really hate fake syrup. I love the subtle flavour of real stuff.

Like others said, you definitely have to acquire the taste. My DD and SO prefer fake, while DS and I prefer real. Maple syrup should not taste like butter, sorry Mrs. Butterworth! There is definitely a difference in which syrup you get, the dark amber I think has the strongest taste which I believe is also usually the least expensive.... I think I got that right.

As far as ingredients go there are no additives so pretty much it is only maple syrup which is boiled for hours and hours. Actually I just looked at the jar here in my work fridge and in fact it states that nothing is ever added.

Someone recently told me she puts it in her coffee rather than sugar. It isn't processed, all natural etc. I tried it and it is really good. Slight maple taste. I even did it in my ice coffee one day. (I don't normally use sugar but a sweet coffee now and then is soo good).

So sorry you got a yucky jar.
Karen

It's not thick at all like the fake stuff, it's a very subtle maple flavor and it does take time to get over the fact that's it's REAL. Try it, you'll like it.

That's backwards Karen, the darker the color the more expensive it is, darker means it was boiled longer which means it takes more sap to produce one gallon of dark amber syrup than it does a light amber syrup. 
OP the bottle you describe is a pretty standard maple syrup bottle, lots of companies use it for their maple syrup. Real maple syrup is pretty thin and has a subtle taste, the lighter the color the more subtle the taste. Does your bottle have a grade on it?  You did not get straight sap as someone has suggested, my guess is your husband went for the least expensive option and got Grade B syrup, which is the lightest and least boiled down therefore will have the least flavor. . 

Pour some in a heavy pot and gently boil it until it becomes a little darker. Taste it to see if you like the darker syrup better. You could also microwave it, but you need a large glass container because it will boil over. You also need to watch it more carefully in the microwave so it doesn't burn, but should work for a small amount. It will thicken as it cools.

I prefer maple syrup to be less sweet. I agree with others, it's probably a combination of your bottle being a lighter grade and you being used to super sweet fake maple flavor.

I don't think this is true.  The lighter use to be called fancy is more expensive than the darker lower grades. 

Eta - sorry I just read your post better and I misunderstood what you were saying, I thought you were saying B is more expensive than a light or medium amber.  The sugar content of the sap is a big determination on the grade.  The less sugar content the longer you have to boil and the darker it gets.

2nd edit:   confused yet.  Hahah. I did read it correctly the 1st time.  b is a dark syrup with a lot of flavor.  Since I don't seem to have reading comprehension skills today I will just keep quiet.  

We used to make maple syrup, and it sounds like he got a jug of sap. Either that or they didn't boil it long enough. We always cooked ours to our personal taste. It's thinner than fake syrup, but should have a sweet, clean taste.

I much prefer the fake stuff.