This week we’ll have a two-part series called Bees vs. Trees, in which I taste a bunch of honey whiskies (the Bees) and maple whiskies (the Trees). Today, the Bees get the spotlight as honey has become a very popular additive to a wide variety of whiskeys. Just as an educational note, there is a very blurry line between whether these are, by definition, flavored whiskies or strong liqueurs, since they usually have added sugars as well.

After tasting this lot, I found that overall, honey whiskies have a much less-pronounced scent than maple, but the sweetness comes through stronger as you taste them, plus the honey whiskies are mostly lower in alcohol % than the maple varieties that you’ll see in the next part, too.

Let’s get tasting!

Evan Williams Honey Reserve

• Cost: $15
• Description: “The smoothness of Evan Williams with a sweet honey taste.”
• Alcohol: 35%
• Evan’s take on honey whiskey is pretty interesting, and overall, we found it to be the least honey-tasting of the bunch. It’s got a more dry, almost medicinal, flavor that finished very fruity, almost like cherry cough syrup. This might be a good fit for a cocktail with some fruit ingredients, particularly cherry or berries.

Jim Beam Honey

• Cost: $16
• Description: “Kentucky straight bourbon whiskey infused with real honey and liqueur.”
• Alcohol: 35%
• Beam is the only brand you’ll see playing for both teams in the Bees/Trees series. We found it to be the sweetest-tasting of the bunch, with a strong flavor of root beer, even licorice. The honey flavor is present and does contribute to the overall sweetness of the drink. This might be a fun liquor to mix with Root or even Absinthe to help complement it’s flavors. Actually a splash on your ice cream would be pretty great, too.

Bushmills Irish Honey

• Cost: $25
• Description: “A blend of triple distilled Irish whiskey, real Irish honey, and other natural flavors.”
• Alcohol: 35%
• This may not be a surprise, but Bushmills is the more serious honey whiskey in this list. It tastes like an Irish whiskey, even a Scotch, as you can totally detect the barley base it’s made with, which is a very different experience from the bourbons and Tennessee whiskies in this list. Just as it finishes, there’s a touch of what seems like a cool, natural, sweetness. We found it tasted stronger than the others, and it would be a perfectly respectable sipper. If you’re a Scotch noob, this and Dewar’s Highlander Honey would make some good entries to start with.

Jack Daniel’s American Honey

• Cost: $20
• Description: “Honey liqueur blended with Jack Daniel’s Tennessee whiskey.”
• Alcohol: 35%
• I am consistently surprised by the quality of the various Jack Daniel’s whiskies I try. American Honey smells mostly like whiskey, and it’s not syrupy or sticky. The honey flavor delivers a substantial helping of sweetness, though the Jack Daniel’s base turns this into a more nutty/buttery experience, ultimately tasting something like pecan pie. Sipping this neat with a spicy, earthy cigar would be a good fit.