Jim Beam Devil's Cut

Just a note, if you go to BevMo and pick this stuff up, make sure to wear your Slipknot shirt. Apparently, the cashiers are required to sing “The Heretic Anthem” while ringing you up. Not really, but the guy that was handling the counter when I went in did, so give it a shot, see what happens.

Review :

Normally, I don’t really care when a Bourbon or Whiskey advertise that their new product has been aged in a specific type of barrel, or has “Flavorful notes of (insert aromatic ingredient here)”. It always seemed to me like they are trying to turn something as great as Bourbon into a spiced Rum or something. Which led to some confusion on my part when I first cracked open this bottle. It smelled like a spiced rum, the first shot had an initial mouth feel like a spiced rum, but the after taste was clearly bourbon. When I say after taste, I don’t necessarily mean that in a bad way. I like the way that bourbon tastes, so this was actually a good thing. The added flavoring kind of masked a bit of the initial bite that you get from Bourbon, plus this particular product has a bit more alcohol content in it (90 proof, 45% alcohol), so that was a welcome bonus. Needless to say, I got a fairly good buzz. It was pretty good straight up, but went great with my usual coke. I did happen to see on the website that they actually do recommend drinking it both ways, in addition to on the rocks, and neat. They clearly want this to almost be a sipping Bourbon. I can see it, but whether or not I’ll follow through with their suggestion is neither here nor there. I found my bottle at BevMo, but the Jim Beam website has a VERY useful locator on it that allows you to search based on your zip code and which specific type of Jim Beam you are looking for. So check it out.


Breakdown :

The Bottle : Seriously? I don’t know what the hell the deal is with companies and their standard bottles, but here is another one. The major difference, like most others, is that the label is different. It’s actually pretty cool, when considering that that the original flavor has a pretty boring label.

Score : 15

Taste : This stuff does taste good. I have to give them some credit. I would actually even be inclined to take it OVER the original Jim Beam. I still don’t know why you would want a Bourbon to taste like a spiced Rum, but I guess that is why I am writing here, and not the CEO of Jim Beam. Definitely try it neat, on the rocks, as a shot, and with coke. If you are a fan of Bourbon at all, I am sure you’ll find something that you like.

Score : 25

The Buzz : I actually caught a pretty quick buzz. Bourbon does that to me. Plus this is a little bit stronger than Original Jim Beam, and went so well with coke that I drank it pretty fast. Very mellow buzz, definitely a product I am going to get again.

Score : 25

The Cost : Depending on where you find it, the 750 ML bottle will run you between $20 and $28. So the price is a real downside to this. If it was a set $20 bill, then it would be extremely worth it. I had to go way out of my way, and made sure to bring my ClubBev card to get it. Still, if you like Bourbon, might be worth the price tag for you.

Score 15

Total Score : 80

I would go through all of my other reviews to see if this is in fact the highest score I have given anything on here, but I am lazy. If you want to find out, do it yourself. Either way, for the money, I find it to be a great choice, considering the taste, and how drunk you will get.

Cheers

Jack Daniels Tennesse Honey

Yes, another Jack Daniels product. Slow news day.

Review :

The first time I tried this flavor of Jack, it was actually one of those gift sets that I received for Christmas. What can I say? My family knows what I like. Anyways, this is yet another victory for Jack Daniels. When I saw that it was supposed to taste like honey, and actually does, I have to give credit. This stuff taste like straight honey. So much so, that I got a major sugar rush once the bottle was finished. If you are a fan of Honey, you could probably drink it straight. Surprisingly, I did not like it too mush with my standard bottle of coke. I did however enjoy it a lot with some unsweetened tea. Seriously, one or two shots in a Snapple, and you’ll probably be set. This stuff is incredibly smooth too. You don’t get a weird after taste like you do with some other flavored liquors. It rings in at only 35% alcohol or 70 proof, but its easy drinkability makes it easier to catch a buzz. I have seen it everywhere that sells the original Jack, including BevMo, so you should have no problem finding it.

Breakdown :

The Bottle : Unlike the Gentleman Jack or the Single Barrel, this product comes in the same style bottle that the original Jack comes in. The only thing that is different is the label. Instead of the classic black label that the other kind has, this one has a white label with a bee on it.

Score ; 5

Taste : True to it’s name, it tastes like honey. I didn’t like it too much with coke or root beer, but it tasted great with tea. I did notice that the honey taste did die off pretty quick once I drank the sodas, but mixing them didn’t have very good results. It’s extremely smooth, which makes drinking it straight much easier.

Score 25

The Buzz : The buzz itself was a good one. I enjoyed it. The next day was an entirely different story. I don’t get hangovers, so that wasn’t an issue. The problem was the weird, sugary feeling I had in my stomach. It was the same feeling you would probably get from eating a jar of honey. I wouldn’t know, I’m not a bear.

Score : 15

The Cost : This stuff will cost you about the same as a regular bottle of Jack. Which actually kind of bummed me out because on the lower alcohol content. You would think that the stuff with the higher alcohol content would be more expensive. Either way, depending on where you get it, you are looking at about $18 for a 750 ML bottle. I haven’t seen it in a 1.75 L bottle, but that doesn’t mean that they don’t make it.

Score : 15

Total Score : 60

This brand tastes great, the only real draw back is that sugary crash feeling you would probably get the next day, and that it could be a little bit cheaper. I mean, if this were being sold for $2 cheaper, it would probably have gotten a full 25 points on the cost scale. Also, try changing the bottle. It doesn’t have to be all cartoony and be in the shape of a bee like some kind of alcoholic Mrs. Butterworth, but you could make it stand out a bit more than just changing the label color.

Cheers

Smirnoff Marshmallow Vodka

I had teased that I was going to be reviewing the newly released Glazed Donut vodka, but since my luck is terrible, I was not able to find it anywhere. Inquiries on the official face book page for that particular vodka keep telling me to check back soon, so who knows when I might have that review in. So, since I did not want to leave the numerous grocery and liquor stores that I checked last week empty handed, I decided to check this one out.

Review :

To be fair, Smirnoff wasn’t the first to do this particular flavored vodka. I am not 100% sure who did, but I do know it wasn’t them. Anyways, this stuff delivers as far as taste goes. I did my standard first shot to try the taste straight up, and you get massive marshmallow flavor. I stuck the bottle in the freezer for a little while, and got some stuff to mix it with based on various drink recipes that I had found online. I tried it with lemonade, because if you mix equal parts lemonade with this vodka its supposed to taste like a lemon meringue pie, and it did. Probably my favorite of the combinations I tried. The only real downside to this particular product is that obviously with the flavoring there is less alcohol content. Not that it matters too much, because I have yet to find someone who can actually sit and drink these flavored drinks straight up, you are always going to want to mix it with something, which means that your alcohol content goes from being 30% to being slightly diluted. Plus the added liquid fills you up quicker, so you are likely to drink less. I found this stuff at virtually every place that I went to in my quest to find the donut vodka, so it is very available. It comes in a variety of sizes, so you can have a little or you can have a lot.


Breakdown :

The Bottle : Yet again, we have Smirnoff’s signature bottle. Nothing special, nothing new, except that the actual Smirnoff logo looks like it got a bit of an upgrade. Other than that, you probably couldn’t tell the difference between this and any other flavor from a distance.

Score : 5

Taste : It does taste pretty good on its own. You do get a bit of an after taste that you would expect from any flavored vodka, but other than that, straight marshmallow flavor. For the best results, I would say mix it with something. I mentioned mixing with lemonade before, probably my favorite because it does taste like a pie. The other that I found worked pretty good was mixing with two parts chocolate milk. I used the bottled nesquik. It was supposed to taste like a chocolate sundae, I didn’t think so, but the marshmallow paired well with the chocolate.

Score : 25

The Buzz : I actually got a pretty decent buzz from this. Of course I was drinking it pretty quick, but was pretty buzzed by the time that my tv shows were on later that evening.

Score : 20

The Cost : Very reasonably priced. At least for a flavored product. I know that I have seen some other brands various flavored versions sell for as much if not more than their original flavors, but this one was at least $3 cheaper. So that was a plus. You can usually find it for about $12-$14 depending on where you go.

Score : 20

Total Score : 70

Aside from being utterly surprised by how much I like this stuff, I was totally bummed about the lack of the glazed donut. However, if I had to find a way to fill the void, I am glad I tried this stuff. Definitely worth trying, even if you don’t like vodka. Now if I can only find a way to make a drink that tastes like a smore, I’d be set.

Cheers.

No Review Today

So, while I said I would have a new review every Thursday, I have to postpone today's entry. Why? Because Saturday, I will be sampling and then reviewing the newly released Glazed Donut flavored Vodka. Also, I just got back from vacation, and have about a weeks worth of work to get done in 2 days. So give me a break.