Rating
Price:
Circa £20
In a Nutshell:
Liquid heroin with a maple finish! Sweet but not at all cloying. It’s not really a whiskey but we don’t care!
Faith in whiskey liqueurs… restored
What you see here is a maple liqueur made with 4 year old Jim Beam whiskey and some other mysterious things (of which we can assume include maple syrup or a flavouring that makes stuff taste like it!)
Maple is one of the flavours that you may find naturally occurring in a whiskey – so I’d imagine it’s not a huge stretch to try upping the ante in flavour with a little…assistance. Which I suppose is great, if you like maple?
Previously Jim Beam’s flavoured whiskey liqueurs were nested under the Red Stag brand, but with this one it seems that they’ve decided to take a slightly different approach in their branding. This is supposedly because they want to tempt their existing (predominantly male) customer base to try something new. Maybe they are big tough men who think that anything less than unadulterated liquor is for pussies. It’s also 35% ABV, instead of the 40% which you’ll find in the Red Stag range. This is not a ‘proper’ whiskey obviously.
Flavoured whiskey liqueurs really seemed to take off after Jack Daniels Tennessee Honey came onto the scene circa 2011 – starting a trend which has seen lots of big name American distilleries experimenting with sweeter flavours. That said, I’m sure that Drambuie have been up to something similar for longer still (but with more Scottish accents and cold weather)
brb replacing my maple syrup supplies with maple syrup flavoured bourbon…
Plot twist: I don’t have any maple syrup
We Drink It, Stuff Happens
Nose:
First impression: honey, maple bourbon/whiskey under initial heavy sweetness. Veeeeeery fragrant indeed! Tiniest bit of alcohol. Leave it a little longer and there’s a bittersweet snap that comes from it. It’s malty, lightly toasted brown bread. And it’s not subtle as far as I can tell. Just sweetness and a little bourbon. Eventually I get butterscotch. It smells THICK or like it’s gonna be THICK (turns out that it isn’t, but bear with me…)
Palette:
First a little bit tingly shenanigans from booze. Then wow. Bourbon on tongue, ultra smooth, tiniest hint of a burn – the maple notes mix FLAWLESSLY withe the natural sweetness of the bourbon. There is nothing that feels artificial about this. You could give this to children, I swear. Little bit of smoke. Cool, sweet, refreshing – too legit to quit.
Refreshing but not quite saccharine or sweet. Could it be that I’ve found a whisky liqueur that I like? The ‘sickly’ point is reached quite early on for me though. It’s not something that I think someone with a ‘not too sweet tooth’ could drink indefinitely over the course of an evening.
The thinness is actually a contributor to it’s kinda refreshing nature. It’s NOT like drinking Maple syrup straight (not that I have ever tried doing that of course…ahem)
Finish:
Maple – honey, sweetness, not too much warmth. Not very lengthy however. If it had more of a kick it might have lingered on the palette for longer. Exhale and the maple notes tickle the roof/back of your tongue. It’s a long time since I’ve had maple syrup, reminds me of thick pancakes staked high in a Midwestern American diner I had years ago. Lovely.
Some time later the top of your upper lip will smell like CANADA and the maple sweet notes will have merged into a lingering backtaste that kinds reminds me of some kind of insane maple/booze spiked fruitcake.
Verdict:
In summary – maybe a little one dimensional: but it doesn’t claim to be anything that it isn’t. I’m pretty sure I could serve this straight with a cocktail garnish, charge a premium, and nobody would be the wiser. Hehehe. Label says ‘limited edition’ – not sure if this is actually the case or if this is just Jim Beam trying to build some false scarcity in, in an attempt to get people to buy it. Buy it anyway.
Could be a good introduction to bourbon for someone with a rather sweet tooth? The British palette is quite sweet actually, so maybe all aspiring bourbon drinkers could have a go at this. If they’re not too busy drinking various bourbon honey expressions (I have yet to find one of those which I have liked).
I gotta say that I have a pretty ‘sour’ tooth and I completely love this. I do find it a little too sweet to…session the hell out of, but as a starter drink to the evening? Dayum. Probably dangerously easy drinking for someone with a sweeter tooth.
Try it!