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Frisky Whiskey
About Frisky Whiskey
Although flavored spirits have become much more popular in recent years, I somehow haven’t experienced too many for myself. But Frisky Whiskey was nice enough to provide us with a bottle of their flagship flavored whiskey for review, and I’m really excited to see how it compares to more traditional whiskies.
Frisky Whiskey is a flavored whiskey that doesn’t attempt to mask the natural flavor of whiskey. Instead, two common whiskey notes, caramel and vanilla, are emphasized by adding pure caramel and natural vanilla to premium whiskey distilled in North Charleston, South Carolina at Wolf Distilleries.
Frisky Whiskey CEO Nicole Young, one of the few black female CEOs in the whiskey industry, along with co-founders James Landis and Ken Donarski, wanted to create a fun and approachable whiskey that could appeal to a wide range of spirit enthusiasts. The recipe received honors in various competitions in 2018 including the Ultimate Spirit Challenge and the San Francisco World Spirits Competition.
Bottle Specs
❖ Spirit: Flavored Whiskey
❖ Distillery: Wolf Distilleries in North Charleston, South Carolina
❖ ABV: 35% (70 Proof)
❖ Moderate Price
Tasting Notes
❖ Color: Honey
❖ Nose: Butter, vanilla
❖ Taste: Caramel, vanilla, butter, bit of heat
❖ Finish: Spice, Vanilla
Cocktail
Frisky Business
½ oz Lemon Juice
½ oz Simple Syrup
4 Blackberries
2 oz Frisky Whiskey
❖ Muddle the blackberries and simple syrup in a shaker
❖ Add the whiskey and lemon juice then fill the shaker with ice.
❖ Shake well until chilled and strain into a coupe glass and garnish with a skewer of blackberries.
Because of Frisky Whiskey’s amplified caramel and vanilla notes, I was looking forward to using it in some cocktails. Originally, I was interested in testing out classic cocktails, but this recipe for a bramble variation on the Frisky Whiskey website caught my eye because I’ve never used blackberries and whiskey together.
I was a bit worried the flavored notes would over power the other ingredients, but this Frisky Business was nicely balanced. It’s definitely on the sweet side, with the caramel, vanilla and butter notes being the dominant flavors, but the lemon juice helps with the balance. The berries also add a fresh flavor. There’s a pleasant warmth from the alcohol, but pretty much zero alcohol taste.
Bottom Line
RATING: 4/5
Overall, I had a pleasant experience with Frisky Whiskey and would recommend it to most people. And although it won’t be high on my personal list of favorite whiskies, it’s still well made and ultimately succeeds as an approachable whiskey for a wide range of consumers.
I particularly recommend Frisky Whiskey for people new to whiskey, because the focused flavor effectively highlights two of the most common notes in bourbon, caramel and vanilla. It actually might be a bit too effective, because it’s a bit overwhelming at times. But, that could also be because I typically gravitate towards whiskies with strong fruit notes rather than caramel.
I was also excited to test the exaggerated flavors in cocktails, but I found it more difficult to balance than I expected. Frisky Whiskey does work well in cocktails with other strong flavors, like the Frisky Business, but is tricker to balance in simpler cocktails like a highball, whisky ginger, or whiskey sour. I had to play with the ratios of ingredients instead of simply adding the flavored whiskey to my typical recipes.
But even with these these minor issues, I wholeheartedly recommend Frisky Whiskey. And thanks again to Frisky Whiskey for providing this bottle for review.
As always, drink responsibly.
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