We Tried And Ranked Every Flavored Jim Beam Bourbon

Admittedly, I was a bit trepidatious about taking on this assignment. I am certainly a bourbon drinker and I love a classic Old Fashioned or Manhattan, or sometimes at the end of a long night, just a simple bourbon on the rocks. However, I've always avoided flavored alcohol, as I find it can either be too sweet or overpower the taste of the spirit itself.

My additional bias is that as a bartender, I've also done my share of weird shots with customers, and flavored alcohols tend to make their way into the mix to make things go down smoother when you're drinking to get drunk, not for enjoyment or taste.

However, as I surveyed some bartender pals about this list of flavors, there were words of encouragement and even some suggested recipes thrown into the mix. It opened my eyes to innovative ways of thinking about and enjoying these flavored bourbons, and while I can't say they'll all be my new go-to, I definitely have a new appreciation for at least some of them. Take a look below and see where your favorites fall on the list!

The Pineapple scent reminded me of white gummi bears in a glass, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. However, this spirit tasted less like a traditional bourbon than any of the others. It's definitely on the sweeter side (the label describes it as "sweet and tropical") and tasted like the bottom of a piña colada glass. It gives beach vacation vibes but it is a bit syrupy on the tongue. This flavor could interest someone younger or anyone wanting a less complex bourbon.

Jim Beam suggests mixing with soda water to make a Pineapple and Soda, but I suspect that might taste like watered-down pineapple juice. I suspect a better use might be mixing with something tart to counteract the sweetness, like adding a sour mix and making a Pineapple Whiskey Sour, or just leaning into the beach taste and using it in place of (or in addition to) coconut rum in a Mai Tai or maybe a variation on a Bay Breeze with cranberry juice.

I like a good piece of fresh orange (or a bottomless mimosa) as much as anyone, but the orange flavor has never been my favorite when it comes to food and drink. Maybe it's those candy orange slices or any artificially citrus-flavored beverages I had as a child that turned me off of the taste. So it's no surprise that the Orange Jim Beam lands lower on the list for me. It's not as sweet as the Pineapple, so it gets one notch up there, but it is a little too saccharine to drink straight. It reminded me of a less smooth Creamsicle.

Jim Beam recommends making an Orange Crush, utilizing this flavor plus orange and lemon juices, or an Orange You Glad, using pineapple and lime juices with simple syrup. I'd go further, and suggest trying an Old Fashioned with the Jim Beam Orange if you're someone who wants to bring that citrus flavor forward. However, I personally think it should be blended into another cocktail — it's a little too rough to drink straight.

While I'm not the biggest fan of orange, I do love those peach ring candies, and of course a good peach pie or cobbler. This Jim Beam Peach does give a hint of Southern-quality drinking. The label suggests the taste is "bright and fresh." Although it is still living on the sweet side with the Pineapple, it's a more interesting flavor than the Orange. While some of the liquors on this list feel more appropriate for fall or cold weather, the Peach is definitely a warm weather-sipping alcohol.

Jim Beam recommends a Peach and Iced Tea (which is exactly what it sounds like, with a splash of lemonade), and a Peach and Soda Highball. They do also have a recipe for what sounds like a very sweet shot, called a Peach Tart, which combines the Jim Beam Peach with lemonade and grenadine, but that's the least appealing of these options to me. I think making a riff on a Smash or a Mule with the Peach and ginger beer might help counteract some of the overt sweetness.

When I took a whiff of this flavor out of the bottle, I wasn't sure if I'd enjoy it. The fruitiness of it reminded me less of a nice red wine and more of a children's vitamin. However, I'm pleased to report the taste is more enjoyable than the smell. In fact, the taste of stone fruit is a bit deeper and richer than I expected. It's still got the cherry cola-like sweetness, but this flavor could be drunk in a summery cocktail over ice, or a wintery cocktail at a holiday party.

The official tasting notes for the Jim Beam Red Stag (which is the official name for the Black Cherry flavor) include vanilla, oak, and caramel alongside the cherry. While I can't say all of those reveal themselves equally, there does seem to be a bit more complexity here than the Peach. Jim Beam suggests mixing the Red Stag with cola (I do wonder about mixing with a Dr. Pepper!), which seems like a natural fit. They have a recipe for a Red Stag Margarita, which I have my doubts about, but I am curious what the cherry flavor brings out!

On my first whiff of the Apple flavor, I thought of hot, mulled apple cider or even traditional hard cider from fermented apple juice. It's definitely not as sweet as I thought it might, and sipping it straight up goes down relatively smoothly. I added a couple rocks, which made it even easier to drink. The juiciness of the flavor hits the tongue without tasting syrupy like an apple martini.

Other tasting notes Jim Beam mentions are oak and green apple. I certainly got the apple, but the oak was more subtle. Beam recommends making an Apple Highball (really just the apple bourbon with soda water), an "Apple-ade, " mixing the liquor with lemonade, or a drink more interesting to me, an Apple Mule, which adds actual apple cider and ginger beer, along with some mint leaves.

I could see this being mixed in a fall-style cocktail, maybe with some cinnamon and apple slices or even soaking apples in it for a boozy apple pie.

We've made it to the top three, and I feel comfortable saying that one of the reasons the Vanilla has earned its place here is that it really brings out and enhances the vanilla notes of a typical bourbon. While it is probably sweeter than most traditional bourbon drinkers would want, it is more sippable and smoother, with a hint of oak on the finish. This reminded me of a real vanilla bean ice cream, in a good way.

Speaking of ice cream, if you're looking for a creamy drink to use the Vanilla flavor in, Jim Beam has created a Vanilla Fizz that incorporates the Jim Beam Vanilla with egg white, half-and-half, and lemon juice. Another idea from the Jim Beam team is a Vanilla and Cola (similar to the Red Stag and Cola, depending on your preference). Personally, I think this could be an interesting base for an Espresso Martini.

Did you love to eat Red Hots or Atomic Fireballs when you were a kid? Then you'll love the Fire flavor of Jim Beam! A direct competitor with Fireball Cinnamon Whiskey, this flavor feels more familiar to me, as someone who has (regrettably) taken shots of the former. While I'm not a big "spicy" fan, the Fire delivers a nice, subtle kick, with the sweetness not as prevalent as I expected. Like the Apple flavor, this tastes like a fall-inspired cocktail to sip by a fireplace or mix into a Hot Toddy. I could also see using it as the base for a bourbon-based cocktail like the Boulevardier to modernize a twist on a classic.

Jim Beam recommends mixing it with ginger ale to make a Beam on Fire, or lean into the cold weather-inspired cocktails and pour it into a hot chocolate, doing a semi-riff on a Mexican Hot Chocolate called a Fireside Coco.

The light, golden color of this bourbon intrigued me before my first sip. Some of the other flavors on this list were much darker, giving them the appearance of heaviness. The sunlight from my windows reflecting off the honey-colored liquor gave it a brightness I wasn't expecting. And while you'd expect the "Honey" flavor to be the sweetest, it definitely wasn't. The taste has just a hint of a naturally sweetened tea. It was one of the closest to a regular bourbon of the bunch, which is why it was my favorite.

Jim Beam recommends mixing the Honey with lemonade and club soda for a Honey Lemonade or a Honey Julep with the Honey as a base and adding mint and simple syrup. However, it seems versatile; you could use the Honey as a base bourbon in any cocktail where you might want the lightest touch of more sweetness, like a Paper Plane. Of all the flavors I tasted, this is probably the only one I would consider drinking straight up or with rocks, without mixing with anything else. It was that smooth and easy to drink.

Again, as a woman who normally enjoys "straight" bourbon (or an unflavored bourbon on the rocks) at the end of the night, I pulled out a bottle of traditional Jim Beam bourbon as a base/control flavor and took a taste before I began exploring the others. I should also note here that technically all the flavors are slightly lower in alcohol content (all 32.5% ABV, except the Apple at 35% ABV), while the regular Jim Beam clocks in at 40% ABV. That's primarily due to these variations actually being flavored liqueurs infused with bourbon.

The traditional Jim Beam has notes of vanilla and caramel, so truthfully, any flavors like Honey, Vanilla, and Apple that reflected the original were naturally the tastes I gravitated to. I did take a straight sip of all of them from the same shot glass (not back to back!) so that they were all the same temperature and in the same container. I spread my tasting out over a week to sample each flavor anew without having the previous notes still fresh on my tongue and to preserve some ability to work during the day.