The following conversation occurred 4 weeks ago…
Mrs. Limpd: Hey! Do you still have that Apple Bourbon stuff? Let’s give it a try.
G-LO: You can try it, but only if you take some tasting notes.
Mrs. Limpd: Don’t you ever just drink to drink?
G-LO: Of course I do. But when someone sends me a sample, I have to review it.
Mrs. Limpd: Oh. Never mind then.
Then this happened two weeks later…
G-LO to Mrs. G-LO and Mrs. Limpd: Hey! Do you still wanna try that Apple Bourbon stuff?
Mrs. Limpd yells back from The Barthenon: Sure!
Mrs. G-LO also yells back from The Barthenon: I’m not really in the mood, but if you carry everything over here, I might give it a try.
G-LO: Fine. If that’s what it takes to get your two cents down on paper.
And that’s how Mrs. G-LO and Mrs. Limpd got to chime in on the Berentzen Bushel and Barrel, a new liqueur that blends Kentucky straight Bourbon whiskey with Berentzen Apple Liqueur.
To be 100% honest, until I received an email from their PR representative, I had never heard of Berentzen. It turns out that they’ve been around since 1758, and in addition to their Bushel and Barrel, they also sell the following products in the United States: a Wild Cherry Liqueur, a Pear Liqueur, an Apple Liqueur, and a Peppermint Schnapps. Here is what they have to say about their Bushel and Barrel:
The combination of two time-honored crafts. We sourced Straight Kentucky Bourbon, distilled and aged to specification, and mingled it with authentic Berentzen liqueur to provide an artfully crafted and carefully matured spirit of two great traditional flavors.
A perfect complement of flavors that delivers the scent of crisp fresh-sliced apples followed by a long, warm finish of oak, caramel and vanilla tones. An artfully crafted and carefully matured experience.
And here’s what the ladies and I thought about this liqueur…
- Aroma: Baked apple with cinnamon and vanilla. There’s a hint of Bourbony scents coming through, but the apple definitely dominates, though not in a bad way.
- Taste: Very fall or Christmasy on the palate with lots of baked apple or spiced cider flavors.
- ABV: 30%
Overall, we found it to be a lovely diversion with lots of delicious spiced apple flavors coming through. While the ladies liked it as is, as is usually the case, I’d love to try this at a higher proof or maybe as a mixer in a whisky cocktail.
And speaking of trying this as a mixer…
While the Bushel and Barrel was fine on it’s own, we were intrigued to see how it would hold up in a cocktail. Since one of the suggestions on the Berentzen website is to try this with ginger beer, and since I just happened to have a six pack of Gosling’s Ginger Beer in the fridge, that’s exactly how we tried it. The recipe is as follows:
- 1 Part Berentzen Bushel and Barrel
- 2 parts Gosling’s Ginger Beer
- Lots of ice in a rocks glass
- A wedge of lime
Mrs. G-LO, Mrs. Limpd, and I sampled it, and the three of us came to the same conclusion: definitely refreshing with a hint of the spiced apple coming through, but the ginger dominates. A tasty drink for sure, but the Bushel and Barrel gets lost in all the Ginger Beer spiciness. Next time around, we’re thinking more Bushel and Barrel, less Ginger Beer, and perhaps a Rye or Bourbon float to kick things up an extra notch or two.
