Note: Like all the spirits I review this was tasted at room temperature for maximum taste and detection of any faults if any in a product. If you chill benzene cold enough you could drink that too (NOT RECOMMENDED!), which is why I try them at room temperature.

The case of Jägermeister bears this out – drinking it at room temperature is not pleasant. Jägermeister was an unknown liqueur back in the late 1970’s when it was starting to get popularized- rumors of drugs and strange effects from drinking it were circulated and the unorthodox marketing tactics brought it to the forefront at least among college students and the younger crowd. It was in a way treated the same way as mezcal, something with a folklore for getting you drunk in strange ways fast. It seemed to be the night train to oblivion.

Appearance: Dark brown/gold, caramel color to it. Reminiscent of a whiskey but darker. On swirling leaves a even coat on the glass with a very slow development of legs.

First Impression: Heavy scents of menthol, cloves,cinnamon and ginger.

Taste: Menthol, cinnamon, cloves, allspice, cardamom, gentian. A long mentholated aftertaste with mild alcohol presence.

Drinks: 100’s of them – most undrinkable in my opinion. One of the more amusing preparations I have ever seen was Kevin Brauchs’ (of the Thirsty Traveler, and lately Iron Chef fame) Jager Pop Rocks. The most often method of drinking Jager is as a chilled shot from a proprietary shot chilling machine, where it is slammed in group efforts to achieve, well something.

Bottle: Dark green rectangular flask style bottle of pressed glass, with slightly curved sides which make gripping the bottle much easier.

Other: Best consumed as cold as possible. See above.

Final Thoughts: While not as filthy tasting as some things I have had, it lacks much in the overall charm department or have anything nice to say about it. Amaros such as Fernet Branca have their charms and uses- this doesn’t have one unless the idea of drinking a highly mentholated sweet liqueur to get utterly wrecked with some friends appeals to you. While I certainly don’t advocate that- it seems to be what people do with this stuff – at least from what I have seen.

Website: http://www.jager.com

Quick loading webpage with drinks recipes, and not a lot of information on the actual product.