St. Elmo Dark Cherry & Vanilla Bourbon

This year for the holidays I’m going to try a brand new whiskey every day in December. #lifegoals Dec. 6: Note - this is not 88%, it’s 88 proof. 88% would be... hot damn. So how would you interpret “Straight Bourbon Whiskey with Dark Cherry and Bourbon Vanilla Beans”? It’s the only designation on the bottle, and it feels misleading. My hope is those are tasting notes. My fear is that this is a damn mixed drink in a bottle. Nose: holy cow the cherry. Reminds me of a cherry wine. Very sugary. Not looking good folks. Body: jack and cherry coke. Mic drop. Finish: coke, sugar, cinnamon. It’s really hard to pick out bourbon. It’s a damn mixed drink in a bottle. It’s pretty good, and if I were a fan of jack and coke, I think this would be amazing. There’s a really weird carbonated mouth feel in the finish. It’s not carbonated from the shake test, but I think it’s just so reminiscent of a mixed drink that my brain is fooled. Directions on the back for “Elmo Cola”: 1) Fill rocks glass with ice. 2) Add 2oz St. Elmo Bourbon (bullshit, this is not bourbon) 3) Fill glass with cola 4) Garnish with 2 cherries. Honestly you could skip steps 3&4 and be just fine. It’s good, but not a bourbon. I don’t know if I actually have 25 more new whiskeys lined up, so if you’re reading this and there’s something readily available out there you’d like me to enjoy/suffer through this holiday season, leave it in the comments.

Man I was hopeful for this one… tried it neat to start, made all the hair on my arms and legs stand up, not good. Strong, medicinal cherry cough syrup with barely any bourbon to overpower it. Threw in a couple cubes and swirled to chill…. barely helped, still made funny faces. Added cola, tolerable. Something low-end like red stag is waaaaaaaay better. I won’t share this with friends, and I’m one of those Chicagoans who ENJOYS doing shots of Malört which doesn’t hide what it is. With enough coke zero ill get through the bottle, but I won’t buy again or ever tell a friend to waste their money. Who greenlit this trash?

I love this! With the vanilla and the molasses added, when enjoyed neat I get a funky rum vibe, almost a black strap rum. I like rum, so I'm okay with that. But this isn't meant to be enjoyed neat. The reason I would give it a 4 is because it is perfect with cola as at the restaurant. Here's why I'm going to be buying more of this juice: 2.5 ounces in a cocktail shaker with ice, 4 dashes of bitters, stir for one minute, pour into a cold rocks glass, add a cherry. No vermouth needed. This is absolutely ideal as a Manhattan. Well done!

This is not your typical Bourbon, it’s more a mixer, it’s says right on the bottle it’s mixed with “Dark Cherry and Bourbon Vanilla Beans” and the suggestion for serving is with coke. When it’s drank with coke I find it quite tasty. It’s a take off of the drink St. Elmo’s Steakhouse serves. I guess more than anything it “partial pre-mixed cocktail” add coke and voi’la you perfectly mixed St. Elmo’s cocktail. So if I am grading this as a bourbon not so much, as a “partial per-mixed cocktail” not bad.

As others have stated, it's very sweet. Too sweet. Although, I think there are a lot of people who would really enjoy this. Strong notes of cherry along with some blackberry. A bit of vanilla as well but cherry is the most dominant. If you think this is for you, then it probably is.

Easy drinking, sweet bourbon. Has a nice vanilla and cherry mix to it. A little sweet for me, but drank easy straight, easier on the rocks, and even easier with some blackberry soda water.