Rating
Price:
Circa £20
In a Nutshell:
Easy drinking but much too sweet for my tastes. Probably suited to people who don’t really like to drink whiskey too much, but like the idea of drinking whiskey. Or who want to get into more whiskies and need a starting point quite probably aligned with the popular (namely sweet) palette.
This is a ‘liqueur in bourbon clothing’, but rather well disguised all the same. And at a reasonable pricepoint It might make a good cocktail ingredient? I have only tried it straight but combined with something bitter to take the edge off…well, good things could happen?
Also 40% ABV and next to no burn. Danger.
Natural Flavours – Un-natural results
Jim Beam have been making whiskies since 1795. They’re still a family held business now onto their seventh generation. Based in Clermont, Kentucky, the first JB expression was known as ‘Old Jake Beam’.
Flash forward to today. Red Stag is a JB ‘sub-label’ – one where they combine their whiskey and infuse it with what they call ‘natural flavours’ (Spiced Cinnamon and Hardcore Cider varieties being other examples). At 40% ABV this one is pretty strong for a liqueur – and yes, you can still taste the American Oak…kinda. It describes itself as a ‘spirit drink’ – in which bourbon whiskey is an ingredient, not the entirety of the drink.
So yeah, this flavour is ‘Black Cherry’. The Black cherry (Latin name: Prunus serotina) is similar to ‘regular’ cherry, though sharper in taste. This means that it often ends up as an ingredient in other things, in which its distinct sharpness is used to temper the sweetness of other flavours. Also there is apparently a ‘cinnamon note’ to the taste of Jim Beam – but I don’t get it in the liqueurs.
We Taste It, Stuff Happens
Nose
Initially sweet, a little more sniffing reveals a very large hit of black cherry (initially I wonder if it is psychosomatic). Then a little bit of that Vanilla smelling American Oak – plus a clean, somewhat herbal note I’ve noticed in some bourbons. Lavender? The sweetness may be masking some more subtle flavours, or it may not – either way I don’t get them.
Palette
It has a strange thinness I am not too keen on. It is smooth (very little taste of alcohol here, and at 40% that is a little dangerous!) and very sweet – gets to the cloying point a bit too quickly for my liking. But it’s thin and cloying as oppose to thick and cloying…which is a first for me.
There’s brown sugar and sweetness reveals itself as cherry, but not a sour black cherry. More like a …light coloured maraschino cherry. Plus some dried fruit, sultanas, raisins, honey combined with that lavender (ish) note. Plus a tiny bit of sweet smoke – as to be expected.
Finish
Ok, so I take it back – the cherry rapidly gets a more sour, but the caramelised brown sugar kinda sweetness still sticks around. So you have slightly sour cherries and lots of other sweet things PARTYING HARD on your tongue. There’s also a lingering aftertaste that persists, 15 minutes and one blue steak later (legit).
It is a strange, disjointed and disembodied sweetness that feels harsh and artificial. A long finish but not one I am enjoying very much.
Verdict
Pricepoint is pretty reasonable, at around £20 – which is what you’d expect. In all honesty, I’d not pay £20 for it. Not easy drinking for me, it’s TOO cloying. I do believe that this may appeal more to the British palette, which likes sweet things quite a lot.
I’ve ‘tested’ it on a couple of ladies (lol) and it seems to go down well with the fairer sex. But none of them where obsessed with whiskey – and I wouldn’t recommend it to a whiskey diehard (male or female).
If you have a sweet tooth this might be for you. If you like cherries, this might be for you. If you like sweet cocktails with cherries and the taste of bourbon in, this is most likely for you. But if you want one Beam Suntory’s liqueurs to make you a very happy human I would instead recommend to you the Jim Beam Maple – which is entirely legendary.