The Whiskey Flavor You Never Saw Coming

Back when Mark Twain famously declared, "Too much of anything is bad, but too much good whiskey is barely enough" the world had far fewer flavors to choose from than they do today when it comes to drinking whiskey, The Bourbon Review. Even since the more recent 1980s era, when Canada created that cinnamon whisky that seems to be such a hit with college-aged drinkers, there has been an overwhelming influx of flavor options. A look at Drizly's top-selling flavored whiskeys in recent years reveals which of those flavors made it to their best-selling lists.

Fruit notes appear in some popular whiskeys like Crown Royal's Regal Apple and Royal Peach flavors, while other common kitchen flavors can be noted in well-selling bottles like Wild Turkey's American Honey and Crown Royal's Vanilla. A more out-of-the-box flavor like peanut butter has even made its way into Drizly's flavored whiskey high performers list with Skrewball's Peanut Butter Whiskey. One flavor category that hasn't appeared on a Drizly high-selling flavored whiskey list, however, is seafood. Of course, that could change down the line, now that a New Hampshire distillery is trying to put a shellfish-flavored whiskey on the map.

You may have had a sip of crab apple whiskey, but have you ever tried crab whiskey? If you haven't and you'd like to, it may be time to scuttle to Tamworth Distilling in New Hampshire to get your claws on a bottle of Crab Trapper. According to Food & Wine, the distillery has partnered with a team from the University of New Hampshire to help the state out of a pinch by finding a purpose for the invasive green crabs that are wrecking New England's ecosystem and shellfisheries. (The European green crabs have also made headlines on the opposite coast recently since Washington's governor declared the crab's invasion of that state's ecosystem an emergency, per KUOW.) Food & Wine reports one solution Tamworth offered for New England, naturally, was to harvest thousands of the invaders to make a 51% ABV whiskey.

Sure, it's emotionally easy to back a green initiative, but what about the taste? Tamworth likens Crab Trapper to a Low Country Boil with a "bourbon base steeped with a custom crab, corn and spice blend mixture" and claims "the crab is present lightly on the nose." Other tasting notes include coriander, bay, maple vanilla oak, clove cinnamon, and allspice. Tamworth Distillery founder Steven Grasse has described the drink as "briny and better Fireball," per Forbes. Fortunately, the plan to eliminate some crabs by turning them into whiskey didn't go sideways.