Kurvball BBQ Whiskey

Every now and then I like to do a flavored whiskey or vodka review. It’s not something I like to drink neat or on the rocks, but they often make good cocktails, or at least creative ones. I recently reviewed Ole Smoky’s flavored moonshine and thoroughly enjoyed a lot of them.

Well, when I saw Kurvball BBQ Whiskey in the store, I had to buy it. I’m going to start by saying that my expectations are low. Really low. They’re never high with flavored spirits, but BBQ?!?!? I don’t know what kind of cocktail you’d even make with this.

In this Kurvball BBQ Whiskey Review, we’re going to focus mostly on the different ways you can use or drink Kurvball BBQ Whiskey. We’re going to do a brief overview before jumping into the actual taste.

Kurvball BBQ Whiskey Overview

• Spirit: Flavored Whiskey, Specialty Whiskey
• Owned By: The Kurvball Whiskey Company
• Distilled By: Unknown
• ABV: 34%, 68 proof

Specialty whiskey, like Kurvball, isn’t subject to all of the same rules and regulations as regular American whiskey. One example is proof. To be considered whiskey, a spirit must be bottled at no lower than 80 proof. Specialty whiskeys/flavored whiskeys are not subject to this.

Kurvball comes to us out of Pewaukee, Wisconsin, but I can’t find anything about a distillery, so I’m not sure exactly where it’s being distilled at.

Kurvball BBQ Whiskey uses caramel coloring and natural flavors.

Is Kurvball BBQ Whiskey Good?

When the folks at Kurvball decided to make a barbecue whiskey, they did not hold back. Just twisting the top off led to bbq aromas seeping out the bottle. It smells almost exactly like a fresh opened bag of BBQ chips.

The taste is exactly as the smell lets on. BBQ and alcohol…. For my midwestern people, it’s like a liquid form of Grippo’s Barbecue chips with some alcohol added in.

Now, people love BBQ chips, myself included, but this is a little much. I’m not a huge fan of Kurvball BBQ Whiskey by itself.

I saved myself an ounce, though, to try a Kurvball cocktail, so I’m going to see how that goes.

Kurvball BBQ Cocktails

I only have enough whiskey left for one cocktail, but I’m going to list a couple that I’ve found on the internet/Kurvball’s website and try one of them.

Honey Bar-b-q

2 parts Kurvball, 1 part honey liqueur

Hot ‘Cue

A shot of Kurvball BBQ Whiskey with a couple dashes of hot sauce. Rim the shot glass with BBQ seasoning if you dare.

The BBQ Bloody

1.5oz Kurvball, 3oz bloody mix, 1/2 oz lemon juice, a couple dashes of Worcestershire sauce, cracked pepper, a dash of hot sauce.

BBQ Old Fashioned

1.5 oz Kurvball, 3 dashes of bitters, sugar cube.

To be honest, I don’t have high expectations for this. I don’t see a world where a BBQ flavored whiskey makes a good old-fashioned. In fact, I don’t imagine this working in any kind of mixed drink or cocktail. Let’s find out.

Yup. Not good. Not good at all. I’d rather take shot of this and just get it over with. Maybe it’d work in a bloody, but I don’t see it.

Kurvball BBQ Whiskey Summary

A barbecue flavored whiskey is a good/fun idea in theory. People that like whiskey often like barbecue, and people who like barbecue often like whiskey. But that’s about as good as Kurvball gets in my book – a fun idea.

Maybe you could use Kurvball when cooking, but it’s a cheap flavor that is reminiscent of BBQ chips. I’ll certainly never buy this again, and I won’t even finish my old-fashioned.

If you want to buy Kurvball BBQ whiskey as a joke and make your friends take some shots of it, I think that could be funny. Other than that, I don’t imagine anyone willingly drinking this.