Sheep Dog

Yes, I know. I KNOW. You're questioning my sanity. What am I doing bringing this nonense in?

Well here's the thing. I received a sample of this, expecting it to be absolutely god-awful. And it's not. It's not mind-blowingly incredible, and it will be sickly sweet for some, but my word is it FUN and I've had an absolute blast with it, which is why I'm happy to have it on my shelves.

Sheep Dog is created by the Sazerac Company, a bit of a behemoth in US whiskey terms, owners of Buffalo Trace and all the highly-sought after Bourbon names associated with that. One would wonder why a peanut butter flavoured whiskey is coming from the same stable - sorry, kennel - as the likes of Pappy Van WInkle, but here we are.

There's a bit of a marketing smokescreen hiding how exactly Sheep Dog is made, with the label simply describing it as 'blended with peanut butter and whiskey'. It may just be as simple as that - Belmont Farm Butterscotch Whiskey is literally butterscotch candy dissolved in their spirit, so it's entirely possible peanut butter is poured into a vat of whiskey and left to melt away.

The peanut butter is abundant on the nose, there's no doubting what's involved here. At a warmer temperature there is a rich, nutty caramel feel, and it's quite thick in the mouth. This is where it will be too sickly for some people, but if you like things on the sweeter side there is a lovely saltiness that cuts through. Chill it in the fridge though, and that sweetness lightens and a fresher peanut feel comes through.

This is utterly a gimmick, I get that. But it's also really fun. It's great to share with people who like to try new things, and if you like peanut butter and whisk(e)y, you will like this - it does EXACTLY what it says on the bottle. I spent about a week trying to nail a PB&J Old Fashioned, and after some playing around managed to get the balance right using Esprit Des Figues liqueur, which has the sharpness to cut through the sweetness of this, along with Egbert's Cocktail Cherries to add some spice to the mix. Some people are going to hate this, or will dismiss it instantly becuase they're 'real' whisk(e)y drinkers. Whatever. Live a little, enjoy yourself!