Review: Barenjager Honey & Bourbon
Review: Barenjager Honey & Bourbon
You just can’t kill this honey+whiskey trend. It’s so popular that now they’re coming at it from the honey side: Barenjager, one of the original honey-flavored liqueurs (if not the original honey liqueur), is adding Bourbon (from Kentucky, but of otherwise unknown origin) to its recipe to create a hybrid spirit just like, well, all the whiskey distilleries.
As expected, the German (nee Prussian) liqueur keeps the focus squarely on the honey, quite the opposite of most of these spirits, which let the whiskey do most of the talking. The honey flavor is rich and authentic, sweet and lightly smoky/woody, almost like hanging around a smoldering campfire. What’s missing is actually the Bourbon. You get the lightest touch of it up front, just a little taste of whiskey on the tip of your tongue, but nothing at all that’s distinctly Bourbon. Whatever the case, the recipe does at least provide for a good balance of flavors. The body may be on the thick side, but it’s not overtly sweet or cloying.
But hey, it’s actually pretty good stuff. It’s a far cry from Tennessee Honey and other whiskey-heavy honey liqueurs, but if you’re looking for a bigger honey kick in your cocktail — or even want to sip something honey-flavored straight (it’s for my cold, ma!) — this new release does the trick quite nicely.
70 proof.
A- / $29 / barenjagerhoney.com [BUY IT NOW FROM DRIZLY]
Barenjager Honey & Bourbon
$29
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This is one nice taste….
You use the word cloying WAY TOO MUCH! Please develop your vocabulary! I love your site but I am starting to cringe every time I read it.
I’ve had A LOT of different honey liquors, but this one might just be the “best”. And that being because it forwards those honey notes more than it does the whiskey, just as he stated, but they are still there, no doubt about it.