JD Winter Jack Cider

You may find yourself walking through the aisle of a liquor store when a snowy bottle of Jack Daniel’s catches your eye – a spiced apple punch cider. ‘I wonder if this is good’. ‘I wonder if I can make some fun holiday themed cocktails with this’. Well, that’s precisely what went through my mind.

In this article, I’m going to explore two things. Is Winter Jack Cider good all on it’s own? Can I make a fun and delicious cocktail using Winter Jack Cider?

I specialize in whiskey, but over the past 2 years I’ve had more than 200 different bottles of spirits, many of which have included flavored liquors or ready to drink cocktails.

Overview

• Spirit: Ready to Drink Cocktail. Blend of Apple Cider Liqueur and Jack Daniel’s
• Proof: 30, 15% ABV
• Price: ~$20

Winter Jack Spiced Apple Punch is a ready to drink cocktail. It uses a blend of Jack Daniel’s No. 7 – standard JD expression – with their apple cider liqueur. It comes in at 30 proof which allows for a couple options. You can drink it how it is, you can make a cocktail with it by adding some extra liquor and other mixers, or you can proof it down a bit with a mixer.

Winter Jack costs about $20 give or take a couple bucks. At $20, it makes me wonder whether or not I’d be better off buying a bottle of Jack and making my own mixed drink with apple cider.

Is Winter Jack Good?

Normally, I’d do a whole tasting with specific notes of the nose, palate, and finish, but this is essentially a mixed drink, so we’re just going to determine whether or not it’s good all on it’s own.

It is recommended to enjoy it warm, but we’re going to try it both ways – out of the bottle and heated up in the microwave.

Cold

It’s not bad. In regards to pre-mixed cocktails, it’s on the better side. Ready to drink cocktails or flavored liqueurs are sometimes just too sweet to drink on their own, but this is manageable.

Warm

Jack recommends their Winter Jack heated up, and it’s certainly better this way. The heat brings out the alcohol on the nose more, but hides it on the palate. Tastes exactly as you’d expect a warm hard cider to taste.

Could you make a better hard cider than this? Yeah probably. But you could definitely make a worse one, and this is already made for you. Just toss it in the microwave.

How to Drink Winter Jack

The absolute easiest way is to pour it in a cup and drink it. To make it better, warm it up. Maybe there’s a better way to drink it, though. I’m going to test out a couple of different drink ideas to see if it’s still good.

Lemon Water + Winter Jack

There are a couple different ways to do this. We’ve been making a lot of tea recently or simply boiling water and squeezing a lemon in. So, we took boiling water, squeezed a lemon, and added half a cup of Winter Jack. The boiling water added plenty of heat, so the microwave was unnecessary. Or you can just do water and cider, microwave it, then add the lemon.

It was very enjoyable, but it’s important to note that this’ll drink more like a brewed cider at ~7% ABV with a 50/50 mix.

Another option is to simply squeeze some lemon in you cup and forego the water.

Eggnog + Winter Jack

I did about a 50/50 mix of Winter Jack and Eggnog, and let me tell you… it was pretty darn good. Throw an extra whiskey floater on top to make it a bit stronger if you wish.

Lynchburg Lemonade

Add Winter Jack to sour mix and throw in a shot of Jack Daniel’s.

Guess what? Another pretty darn good drink.

Summary

Jack Daniel’s Winter Jack Cider is a great choice for this holiday season. It’s versatile. Warm it up and enjoy it around a fire on a cold night. Add a little lemon water or eggnog to proof it down and enjoy a nice drink that’s not gonna get you too buzzed. If you’re looking for something stronger, you can throw an extra whiskey shot in with your eggnog, or do a twist on the Lynchburg Lemonade.

I’m no mixologist, but I enjoy a nice cocktail – especially something different from my typical Old Fashioned or whiskey coke.

Winter Jack is made using whiskey, but don’t mistake this for a flavored whiskey. It’s a ready to drink cocktail, or it can be used more as a liqueur to add to a cocktail. If you’re looking for something to spice up your holiday cocktails, look no further than Jack Daniel’s Winter Jack Cider.