Apologies for the late upload! Still recovering a bit from my illness which has come back for round two, but I’m not letting that stop me this time, not when there’s heads to roll! The Guillotine is back, this time with a bottle that many of you will likely recognise: Fireball!
Fireball is not a drink I dislike, for what it is I think it’s fine. It’s a sickly sweet spirit with a cloying spiciness to make for something that is complex and intense, but overall approachable by an average consumer. It knows its place and it does its job well, like many of its sister spirits owned by Sazerac. The Canadian whisky used in the liqueur does help to give it a soft sweetness that isn’t weighed down by a heavy base spirit, which is key as the syrupy nature of the spirit is already prone to that.
With that all being said, why is it in the guillotine? We’ve had 3 spirits so far with different reasons for being sent to the chopping block. Glen Moray was used as, despite liking it, I was never really reaching for it over other spirits. Volare Banana was used as I bought it for a specific purpose that didn’t seem to crop up often, so I just wanted it gone. Finally, Jose Cuervo was used as I just genuinely didn’t like the spirit and wanted a reason to get rid of it without wasting it.
As for which of these reasons Fireball is here, the closest option is to that of Glen Moray. This bottle is a full litre and I’ve had it for around a year and, despite that, I still had around 700ml left of alcohol in the bottle (enough to fill the guillotine to the top, which is a first). Like I say, I don’t dislike this drink, after all I love whisky and cinnamon, but it is a bit sweet to have regularly and I just want an excuse to get something new.
I have seen in my research that Fireball has released a barrel aged expression, which I might look into more as a potential replacement on my shelf, but that can wait till another day. For now, I need to thoroughly wipe off my decanter as it got sticky in a hurry!
This post’s recommended song is: “Just the One” – The Levellers
