Best Tasting Spirits

The High Noon Challenge

The High Noon Challenge is not a drinking competition, nor is it as painful as the Paqui One Chip Challenge.  The High Noon Challenge is a fun way to sample all 13 High Noon Hard Seltzers without feeling like you just drink 13 cans of hard seltzer.  For those unfamiliar with High Noon it’s best described as a Real Vodka + Real Juice Hard Seltzer.  The High Noon Challenge is an event to be shared with family and friends.  This event is best enjoyed in groups of 4-12.  To join the fun, pick up one four flavor 8 can variety pack of High Noon Tropical, one High Noon Tailgate variety pack, one High Noon Pool Variety Pack, and one pack of 3 ounce Solo cups.  If you can’t find Solo cups, Dixie cups will work but it always seems more fun drinking from a Solo cup.  High Noon does make a 13th flavor.  High Noon Lemon is sold in an individual flavor 4 can pack.  For extra credit pick up one 4 can pack of High Noon Lemon. 

2022 Top Ten Eggnog Liqueurs

The eggnog season traditionally runs from the end of October through the end of December.  I must apologize for not posting this list sooner but this has been a very busy year at Best Tasting Spirits and when we publish our Top Ten lists they involve a complete do over for each spirit.  We posted our review of Christian Brothers Holiday Nog over 9 years ago and we have posted over 2000 reviews since then so it would not be fair or accurate to post our top ten list based on memory.  For those unfamiliar with eggnog it is typically made from milk, cream, sugar, eggs, vanilla extract, and it is seasoned with cinnamon and nutmeg.  Eggnog liqueurs are typically spiked with brandy, rum, and or bourbon, but we have also reviewed some spiked with wine, moonshine, and corn spirits.  A Top Ten Eggnog List is only as good as the eggnog’s being considered.  We have reviewed 17.  We believe 2 are no longer produced so we are not considering the previously reviewed Cutwater Bali Hai Tiki Holiday Spirit, or Holly Nog but we have included our thoughts on both.  To keep this Top Ten list relevant we will continue to post reviews of eggnog liqueur.  We will not alter our 2022 Top Ten list but we will use this site to add our comments on the additional eggnog liqueurs we review in the future.   

2020 Top Ten Flavored Irish Cream Liqueurs

In 2019 we published our list of the Top Ten Irish Cream Liqueurs and we promised to follow that up with a Top Ten Flavored Irish Cream Liqueurs list.  To be clear this list includes flavored Irish Creams and flavored Country Creams.  We also considered Baileys Almande and Fennellys Almond Cream Liqueur.  While neither are made with whiskey or dairy cream they sit shoulder to shoulder on liqueur store shelves with the rest of the Baileys and Fennellys family of cream liqueurs.  Last year I pictured a much different group of contenders, but several of the early contenders for inclusion in this top ten list are no longer produced.  They include Baileys Pumpkin Spice, Saint Brendans Salted Caramel , Saint Brendans Peppermint Bark, Michaels White Chocolate, & Michaels Vanilla Cinnamon.  Merry also reduced their flavored Irish Cream lineup by three.  I have always said one of the most important factors in any Top Ten list is quality and quantity of those considered for inclusion.  Over time we have reviewed over 80 Irish Creams and Country Cream and over 40 have been of the flavored variety.  In preparation of our 2020 list we tasted almost every flavored Irish Cream liqueur on the market today.  The current list of flavored Irish creams include 8 Baileys, 6 Fennellys, 4 Connellys, 3 Michaels, 2 Sheelin, 2 Mollys, 2 Merrys, 2 Connellys, and 1 from Seans, Carolans, McCleary, O’Reillys, and Flannerys.  Before publishing our list of Top Ten Flavored Irish Cream Liqueurs we broke each of the flavors down individually and also named our Top Irish Cream by flavor category.

2019 Top Ten Irish Cream Liqueurs

A little over 6 years ago we launched Best Tasting Spirits with our first spirit review.  That reviewed spirit was Baileys Irish Cream.  Since then we have reviewed 68 Irish Cream Liqueurs.  I don’t believe anyone has come close to reviewing as many as we have.  When it came time to select the Top Ten Irish Cream liqueurs we felt the only way to ensure we selected the best tasting Irish Creams was to sample fresh unopened bottles and review and rank them within a two week period.  Because it is unrealistic to taste, compare, and rank 68 different Irish creams in a two week period, we first eliminated Irish Country Creams.  Those are the Irish cream liqueurs made with wine instead of Irish whiskey.  We than eliminated all of the flavored Irish Cream liqueurs.  While all Irish creams are flavored we felt it was best to first find the 10 best tasting Irish creams and at a later date we will taste, rank, and review the top ten “self designated” flavored Irish Cream’s.  From there we selected our previously reviewed top Irish creams and the industries best selling Irish creams.  Over time some previously reviewed brands are no longer produced, and other brands have changed their formula.  One brand Michaels, was one of our previously highest scoring brands but it is only sold in Texas and we were unable to source a bottle.  In the end we selected 18.  That group includes Baileys, Bradys, Calahans, Carolans, Coole Swan, Dempseys, Emmets, Five Farms, Kavanaugh, Kerrygold, Kirkland, McCleary’s, Merrys, Mollys, Mullins, O’Connery’s, Saint Brendans, and Trader Joes Golden Vale.  To help differentiate between the different brands we adjusted our scoring as follows:

87-90 Silver Medal

91-94 Gold Medal

95-100 Double Gold Medal

How serious was I in selecting the Top Ten.  First I reviewed each of the 18 over a 4 day period.  I did this without looking at our previous reviews so as not to influence these reviews.  I then compared brands in groups of 2 and 3 head to head over a 10 day period.  When the testing was complete I had not only put a significant dent in each bottle, but I had gained 5 pounds.  I guess this is what they call taking one for the team.  So how well did each brand perform and who came out on top?