Duke’s Honey Bourbon Beef Jerky Review

By Richard Thomas

Rating: B

Once upon a time, dried meat was such a major means of preserving meat that whether the jerky had a truly pleasing flavor or not was immaterial. Nowadays, what makes jerky popular with backpackers and astronauts is that it’s preserved protein that tastes good and relatively unprocessed. Snackers don’t even care about the preserved part, and focus squarely on the taste, and a flavor that goes around well is barbecue.

Duke’s Honey Bourbon Beef Jerky has all the ingredients in its marinade to taste not just like barbecue, but sweet bourbon barbecue. The ingredients list that on top of a dollop of Jim Beam Bourbon is a mix of honey, brown sugar, molasses, and maple syrup. The brown sugar is a core sweetener for everything from most barbecue sauces to sloppy joes, and any properly made sweet barbecue sauce would have at least one of the other sweetener elements. So, imagine what a marinade with all four plus Jim Beam White tastes like. Spices, onion, and garlic give it a little kick, but the core of this jerky’s flavor profile is a deep, rich barbecue-style sweet flavor that melds with the nutty beef flavor beautifully, making this jerky into fine pocket beef barbecue.