If some of you are at all excited about the holiday season that we are now in, you know that it is a joyous time, for the most part. Of course, here in Wisconsin, we get 16 inches of snow at one time and then endure highs of 9 degrees (F), during walks to school and drives to work.
Anyways, to soothe the pains of this holiday season, there are many cocktails that can make us feel great. Whether you want to just have hot chocolate in the quiet of your own home or have egg nog at a social gathering of your friends, it is all fun in the end. This entry begins our segment into Drinks for the Holidays. The next month will feature only cocktails, drinks, and shots/shooters for this holiday season. Wouldn't it be nice to go home to your family and surprise them with a wonderful cocktail to help them celebrate your holiday together? I know it would be!
To begin this segment, we start of with Mothers Original Holiday Nog. There are many different "nog" style liqueurs on the market this holiday season and this is one of them. Hopefully, we will be able to compare a second brand to help ease the stress of buying decisions. This holiday nog is bottled by United States Distilled Products Co. in Princeton, Minnesota. That might be one of the reasons why the price is what it is here in Wisconsin.
First, the presentation is very holiday-esque. You can opt to buy the bottle all by itself, or you can buy it in a gift box to give to a friend or put on display at your residence (See picture above). There is a nice little gift tag printed on the box so you don't even have to wrap it! Could life get better? I believe that it cannot. The liqueur is a pale white, not quite as yellow as egg nog that you buy in the store that is milk based. It comes in a clear bottle, so as you begin to use it up, the level of liqueur left is noticed. Overall, good design, I would have liked the bottle to be white and non-see-though, as most creme-style liqueurs are to decrease chances of spoiling. You will want to refrigerate the bottle after opening.
Second, the scent is much that of egg nog. It actually almost smells exactly like egg nog. The ingredients, as stated on the side of the box, include but are not limited to rum, custard creme liqueur, and egg nog flavors. This goes to show that the liqueur is flavored like egg nog and already has the alcohol in it. I cannot smell any of the other alcohols that are in this liqueur, so that is a good sign. It is smells just like traditional egg nog you buy in the store and doesn't offer a whole lot of individuality from original egg nog (other than the fact that it is alcoholic).
The taste of this liqueur is good. It is something that would go well with dinner, either during or after your meal. It taste like egg nog right away, as soon as it hits the palate. After you begin the exit, it goes away and tastes relatively artificial. The taste that I get left with at the end is that of Peaches and Cream oatmeal. That sounds super weird, but so are humans. It also wasn't as thick as I was expecting. It has a consistency very similar to that of milk. It isn't as think as an Irish Cream liqueur. This can be both good and bad, depending on your tastes. It is full of custard, egg nog, creme and nutmeg-type flavors, which is good for something that is just thrown in a bottle and meant to imitate real, fresh egg nog.
This liqueur is a very good value and tastes extremely good when enjoyed on ice. I could see that this could be very tasty when combined with ice cream and milk in a blender. It would be a very wonderful egg nog shake. As for this liqueur, I would probably buy it again. The reason being that it is sold at $6.49-$6.99 for a 750mL bottle in 12.5% ALC/VOL, which is a steal. For being as high as 12.5%, I would have thought that I would have been able to taste somewhat of a burn on the exit. Nope, none. I like this liqueur and it would probably be best enjoyed in moderation. It is sweet and could probably cause a stomach ache sometime down the line when consumed in enormous amounts. This liqueur would be great for holiday parties and would be something special to your family's holiday party. Chances are they have not had this before and you can be the hero this holiday! Overall, this is a good liqueur, but it doesn't offer anything out of the ordinary to set it apart from traditional egg nog and your own liqueur.
If anyone gets a chance to try this, post a comment, either on here or on Facebook. We would like to hear what you think of this liqueur!
Appearance: 8/10
Scent: 6/10
Chilled Taste: 6/10
Overall Score: 6.6/10
Today we have something simple, yet elegant. As I was beginning to check out at Mega Foods on Business 53, I was inundated with the presence of, what could be, a wonderful delight! I noticed a small black, envelope-like package that had the Jack Daniels label on it. After further reading, I discovered that this envelope was filled with Jack Daniel's Filled Chocolates. I could not resist the urge to buy them and took them home for further examination.
