Notes: Southern Comfort was created around 1874 by  Martin Wilkes Heron as a bartender in New Orleans who was seeking a milder but more flavorful drink for his customers and experimented with fruits,spices and flavorings to create “Cuffs and Buttons his proprietary mix. This was later renamed Southern Comfort. This is the third of a line of flavor extensions launched by Southern Comfort, the first two being Southern Comfort Lime and Southern Comfort Fiery Pepper – neither of which we have had or reviewed. This third line in their flavor offering is Southern Comfort Bold Black Cherry – a whiskey, spice, and fruit  flavored spirit.

Appearance: Light gold caramel color,on swirling leaves a fairly heavy coat on the glass, and after a long interval a few legs start to appear. Overall a fairly thick and oily appearance.

First Impression: Heavy natural cherry aromas backstopped by othe cherry like notes, heavy doses of spice,cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla,honey, and possibly clove. Also barrel char/oak, tobacco and leather notes. Smells more like a spiced rum ( think Sailor Jerry) than a whiskey.

Taste: Rather sweet entry- definitely more a cordial than a whiskey- with lots of cherry,vanilla and spice along with a whiskey and the attendant notes of leather,vanilla, barrel char,and tobacco. I give them point for using real cherries, it doe not taste like the chemical cherry cough syrup flavoring  so many other people use, but better than that does not a great cordial make.

Drinks: I tried it with the Coke Zero they sent along supposed to be really good according to all the press releases.Not being a fan of Coca Cola in general, and cherry coke in particular it was lost on me. Again I was reminded of a spiced rum and coke rather than a whiskey based drink.I also tried it in a Manhattan ( about 1/2 bourbon to 1/2 Southern Comfort Cherry and it made it too sweet.Only dialing way back on the sweet vermouth and/or using dry vermouth could you rescue the drink.

Bottle: Clear glass with a large molded band to the bottom of the bottle,Concave sides ( easier to grip)  with Southern and Comfort embossed on either side and a ribbed teardrop or parasol pressed design at the shoulder. Quite a bit different from the old day- much more baroque. That being said rather similar to all the other new  Southern Comfort bottles and even more like their 100 proof version except for minor differences in the label coloring and of course the Cherry labeling. Also the neck wrap is kind of a retro looking cherry with rays type of graphic with a screw top closure.

Other: Uses real cherries ( at least two different varieties)

Final Thoughts: While not as foul as some other flavored whiskies I have had recently it still fairly undrinkable to me.

Website: http://www.southerncomfort.com

Fairly minimal information beyond basic facts and some recipes.