Red Stag by Jim Beam Black Cherry

This year for the holidays I'm trying a new whiskey every day in December. #lifegoals Dec. 28 The era of expensive Orphan Barrels has concluded. Now is the time for mini bottle stocking stuffers. It's pretty cool how Santa consistently provides me with a few 50mL bottles I've never tried. Every single year. This hits your nose with a fruit wine-like aroma. You get cherry, grape, and raspberry. Like many of these types of spirits, it's a syrupy fruit scent, not tart or natural. It's medicinal. The body directly reflects the aroma. No surprises here, though over time some of the sweetness comes from vanilla rather than just the syrup. Finish: nope. I mean... there's a slight warmth on the backend, but overall this spirit delivers exactly what it promises from the initial smell. The artificial sweeteners they must use in these... wow. If I had to guess in a blind tasting, I'm not sure I could distinguish this from berry-flavored medications. I believe Beam achieved exactly what they set out to do here, which for some baffling reason was to compete in the ridiculous bourbon liqueur market. In that category, this little one isn't the worst, but it's certainly not a top contender. 'Tis the season. I DO have 3 more new whiskeys planned. Thanks, Santa!

Part of a sample pack from Jim Beam's 12 Days of Christmas. Eighth offering. Brief review. Smells like Cherry Twizzlers or Cherry Vanilla Coke. Sweet. Every sip tastes like sweetened Cherry Vicks NyQuil with a hint of white pepper tingle. The finish is like unsweetened Cherry NyQuil with oak. This is most comparable to Chambord, but it is not Chambord. It's syrupy, artificial, and best used as a mixer. Consider it in an iced tea or seltzer spritzer. For a cordial, opt for Chambord instead. [Tasted: 12/17/20]

My unsophisticated palate tends to favor sweet and fruity options, and this fits that description. It has a relatively high alcohol content for something considered a liqueur in Europe, and it's reasonably smooth given the ABV, but the dominant flavor is artificial black cherry, like candy. It's extremely sweet, with some underlying caramel and only faint traces of the original Jim Beam bourbon oakiness. It delivers on its label's promise. While drinkable neat, it's likely better suited as a mixer, keeping its intense sweetness in mind.

This is a decent flavored whiskey. A former Beam engineer recommended it, and I'm glad I sampled it with him, but I wouldn't get it again. While drinking it, I struggled to picture what mixed drink it would complement well. Generally, it's inferior to traditional bourbon; I wouldn't choose to drink it again. As a flavored whiskey, however, it's perfectly fine.

Purchased some time ago for serving guests, and that's its purpose. A companion mixed it with Sprite, which was pleasant but excessively sweet. While I enjoy some flavored whiskeys, this is too saccharine, almost like syrup. My friends appreciated it, so I'll keep it for their visits. It's not for me.

The aromas are artificial cherry and like cough syrup. It's okay. Essentially, it's cherry cough syrup. The flavors are a bit better than I expected, as I thought it would taste more like the medicine I remember from childhood. Instead, I got a sweet cherry Slurpee on my tongue with an odd alcoholic bitterness at the back. The initial taste was pleasant, but the finish was less so.