What is this? When I initially grabbed this, I assumed it was a kind of cream. However, I noticed that Ole Smoky had left the moonshine label in the middle. Is this a moonshine that is intended to be a cream, or is this a cream that has had moonshine added to it? I know that this is a liqueur that has 17.5% alcohol by volume. I believe this makes it higher than most creams but lower than almost every moonshine. So, maybe it's a hybrid of the two. Either way, I'm keen to find out.
Not surprisingly, this pours like a cream. It has a slight pink hue to it that puts me in mind of the strawberry cream that they're going for. As soon as I opened the jar, I was put under the impression that there was moonshine in here. Moonshine has a fairly distinct smell, and I definitely got a whiff of it. However, sniffing from the glass now, I smell strawberry cream. I don't even smell very much alcohol, but I did leave this cooling in the refrigerator for a little while.First sip is surprisingly good. I say that, as moonshine can be a little rocky, and I really anticipated this being more moonshine that it is cream. My fears were baseless, as this beverage is clearly a cream, and it is a good one. It has more of a burn of alcohol than most of the other creams that I have encountered that were still good. This one is managing the alcohol very well, and the smoothness of the cream coupled with the brightness of the strawberries creates a pretty damn good beverage.
After sipping this a few more times, I think this could be one of those beverages that is insidious with its relatively high ABV and hide drinkability, and this could lead to a very drunken night. I don't have anywhere to go, and it is the weekend when I'm writing this, so I will continue to drink this until the sweetness is too much for me to deal with. I'm not sure it ever will be.
Bottom Line: Freaking fantastic.
5.0/5