As most of you well know, flavored vodkas are INSANELY popular in the world of booze. Soon after they began to flood the market, flavored rums began to enter the market as well. So you know it was only a matter of time before the brown liquors were going to follow suit. Anyone for acai flavored Johnnie Walker…umm sounds delish!
I have been a bourbon drinker for some years now and I have very fond memories of sitting on my Uncle Tom’s back porch sipping green label Jack Daniels. It was a right of passage for me and it taught me to “respect the bourbon”. So when I found out Jim Beam was coming out with a black cherry flavored bourbon… I was a little hesitant. “You’re trying to tell me, Mr. Jimmy Beam is up in Kentucky harvesting black cherries?”, I said to myself. “Well I’ll bet my left black cherry, that he’s not!” (Partially that line is courtesy of Dennis Leary…LOVE HIM!)
Jim Beam Red Stag really kinda blew my mind! I have to apologize to Mr. J.B., this is a very versatile spirit. It’s very rare when you can mix a brown liquor with a myriad of juices, sodas, teas or just on the rocks. The black cherry flavor isn’t overwhelming…it’s just right. You still get the nice bourbon flavor that Jim Beam is known for, but there is no bite on the back end. Usually this “bite” is what attracts you or repels you from a nice bourbon. Red Stag really is a product I think anyone, bourbon drinker or not, will really enjoy.
Play with some recipes, see what your crazy little mind can come up with. I’m letting you know now R.O.T.R. readers, I wanted to “mount up” and put the Red Stag in my cross hairs (I even took my good friend Tom Cruise hunting with me…he looked adorable riding his Shetland pony!). But I have to tell you, I think the Red Stag shot me…and it felt good!
Here’s a recipe to get you started. ENJOY!
O Deer Me
1 1/4oz Jim Beam Red Stag
1/2 oz chambord
2oz orange juice
2oz lemonade
Shake, strain over ice
Top with Sprite