- Distiller: Sazerac Co, Inc.
- Infused: natural cinnamon flavor
- Region: Cananda
- Cask: American bourbon
- ABV: 33%
If you haven’t tried it yet, just imagine what it feels like to stand face-to-face with a fire-breathing dragon who just ate a whisky barrel full of spicy cinnamon. Live it, love it, shoot it – what happens next is up to you.
On the recommendation of indie author Jaimie N. Schock, I paired her book, The Pyre Starter with Fireball Cinnamon Whisky. The drink is as intense as the book and so drank it in several shots rather than as a cocktail or on the rocks. Fireball is a whisky without an e because it’s Canadian. It’s aged in American bourbon barrels and naturally flavored with cinnamon.
I am not traditionally a cinnamon whisky kind of girl, so I was hesitant to try it but by now I’m far enough into the book to trust the author’s judgement. The bottle is basic with a fun label that looks ‘burned’ around the edges. So far it is promising something to kick you in the teeth. The liquid itself is a honey color. I sniffed it carefully and got a nose full of intense, sweet cinnamon.
As a shot, it hits very sweet and cinnamony but has a quick build to burning in your mouth, like you’ve just drank a liquid version of those Atomic Candies from your childhood. The intensity lingers, only slowly dropping off until you have an almost menthol-like taste left in your mouth. The second shot is like liquid cinnamon toast as I become accustomed to its taste, rather than becoming a burning sensation as I had expected. By the third shot, it might as well be a flavored Jolly Rancher, except that it’s still a little too hot a sensation for my general preference.
However, as a match for the book, I say it pairs wonderfully. The abundance of flavor matches the abundance of rich characters within the book. It’s burn is reminiscent of the often gut-wrenching action and the sweet cinnamon is reflective of the overall love story. It parallels the morals of the story that a little power or love is a sweet thing even when it burns but a lot of it puts you in danger of losing your head.