Rebel Root Beer Flavored Whiskey

By Richard Thomas

Rating: C-

Back in January, Rebel Bourbon announced that they would bring back their Root Beer Flavored Whiskey. One of the things we do here at The Whiskey Reviewer that so many blogs and magazines turn their noses up at are whiskey RTD cocktails and flavored whiskeys, if they seem like they might be palatable in and of themselves. The caveat I had about this particular item, however, is that it came out in mid-winter. If I am going to be sampling anything chilled, that will be in late spring at the earliest. So, a sample arrived and I kept it until the weather was ready for it.

Yet I am confused and conflicted about what to actually call this bottle. They call it a flavored whiskey, but flavored whiskeys are supposed to be above 40%. The TTB declares a flavored whiskey has a minimum ABV of 30%, and this stuff is well over that line at 35%, but most flavored whiskeys stick to the standard of 80 proof or higher. Liqueurs are often at the 30 to 35% line, it is clearly not that, and when it first came out I decided to label the stuff an RTD concoction. While acknowledging calling it a flavored whiskey is technically correct and I titled the review accordingly, it just does not sit well in my craw at all, so much so that I felt compelled to underline it.

Rebel Bourbon is a legacy brand known for its mass market or bottom shelf wheated bourbon, Acquired and developed by Luxco, it went with them when they were bought up by MGP. The sales slump attending the recent end of the Bourbon Boom compelled MGP to shutter the Lux Row Distillery temporarily, awaiting the day when demand and supply achieve the equilibrium that would call for firing up the stills again. That they went ahead with bringing back the Root Beer Flavored Whiskey when the company must have been planning the closure of the distillery that makes it speaks to just how ample their stocks must be to meet future needs.

The Whiskey
With flavored whiskey, I prefer to not bother with nosing and cut straight to the point: put it on the rocks and see what we’ve got. This Rebel stuff is pretty thin on texture, and smacks of generic root beer with a caramel undertone. That latter point, the caramel, comes forward strongly on the finish though.

In terms of what to do with it, I would much prefer the Wild Turkey or Jack Daniel’s honey liqueurs for this kind of drinking. That said, it’s just as good as any of the flavored whiskeys I rank on the rung below that, such as Bird Dog Peach.

The Price
This bottle is marked at $19.99 on store shelves.