I'm giving this tire five stars because I got it on sale from Specialized and it does most everything well. I paired it with a 2.6 Purgatory Grid T7 in the rear. Both are mounted on 29mm internal width rims. I can say that together, they're certainly not the fastest rollers I've ever been on. In fact, on another bike I have a 2.5 Minion DHF DH casing dual compound paired with an 2.5 Agressor and when I switched bikes, I felt like those tires took off.
The Butcher certainly looks the part of an Enduro tire. It's only weak spot that I can tell, is wet roots, more so than the dual compound Minion. Mounted on a 29mm internal width rim, the tread measures around the same as the 2.5s, but has around a 4mm larger radius. The 2.6s do feel like fun tires in that I don't have to worry about them not rolling over something or losing traction (except for those wet roots). The T7 compound plus the size of the tires will require some extra pedaling energy on the trails. You won't be first to the top of the hill, but you'll be in control on the descent. The inherent drag of the tire means that you can relax a bit on the downhills and let the tire do some of the work. I notice myself not even having to brake in places that I would have had to before. Like I said, they're fun tires. I'm going to mount up a 2.5 DHF dual compound on the rear and see if I can hit that sweet spot between speed and comfort. So yeah, I'd definitely recommend the Butcher for the front. This review is for the 2.6, the 2.3 may behave quite differently.
BTW, I think if Specialized would offer the Purgatory in a 2.4 or 2.5, that would be sweet!