Spring finally sprang here in Boston with an amazingly warm weekend and here I am trying to grow whiskey bottles in my flower box. One can only dream!

I’ve never seen this WhistlePig ready-made Orange Fashioned, which is a new take on an Old Fashioned, until a week ago. This is a pre-batched, barrel-aged cocktail with WhistlePig PiggyBack Rye (aged 6 years) and Runamok pure maple Syrup infused with orange essence.

Nose: oranges, maple and citrus
Palate: sweet, bitters and oranges
Finish: lightly sweet and oranges
Cost: $39 (what I paid)
ABV: 35%

The minute I saw maple syrup my first thought was, it’s going to be sweet, but I’m here to tell you, it’s not. What I can say is, if you hate oranges, you are going to hate this. The orange notes are strong in this one. If you drink it neat, you will get a lot more of the orange essence. If you drink it over ice, the ice helps bring out light sweetness from the maple syrup into the mix.

This ready-made cocktail reminded me of the orange chocolate ball I buy my husband every year during the Christmas holiday. Personally, I enjoyed it neat but, over ice, this could be a go to summer drink. It’s delicious! I’m still in shock at how much I like this. It’s different, not overly sweet and surprisingly, quite refreshing.

Cheers!

Note: The contents on my blog are solely my opinion. To me every palate is different! Although I may or may not like a product, I always recommend for people to try it and make up their own minds.