This was yet another in a long series of impulse buys while waiting in the checkout line at my local liquor store. It fulfilled two important criteria for a potential blog post topic--one, it was sufficiently unusual and a bit strange, and two, it was relatively cheap. I'm willing to spend a bit, say about $10 or so per food or drink item, but laying out the typical $20-30 minimum for a bottle of liquor is a little much. Especially since I might not enjoy the new booze, and be stuck with it. Anyway, the beverage in question was the PB & J pack from the 99 brand, which consisted of four 50 mL bottles--2 of peanut butter whiskey, and 1 each of grape liqueur and strawberry liqueur. I recall the price was about $4. And for those readers who aren't Americans, or up on our culinary culture, a peanut butter and jelly (or PB & J for short), refers to a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, which is a very common lunch for school children.
Alas, the online info I could could find out about the purveyor of my potables was limited. The 99 website (99brandparty.com) is just a list of their products, recipes, a where to buy section, a "contact us" page, and a "what's going on" page (spoiler alert, not much). Almost all of the 99 liquors are flavored whiskeys, flavored vodkas, flavored schnapps, or flavored liqueurs, along with a tequila and brandy. The featured flavors are mostly fruit based, like raspberry and lemon lime, but some are a bit more exotic, such as whipped cream, peppermint, and cinnamon. The origin of the 99 brand is sketchy, but it's produced by the Polynesian Products Company. Which is turn used to be owned by Barton Brands. They were then bought out by Canadaigua Wine Co. (later renamed Constellation Brands), and then, in 2009, the Sazerac company. Sazerac is a monster in the liquor game, being one of the two largest spirits companies in the U.S. with an estimated annual revenue of $1,000,000,000. (Which was probably even more in 2020, with all the extra drinking done by folks sequestered in their homes more.) Sazerac exports to 112 countries around the world, and owns over 300 brands. The company started as a coffee bar back in 1850, but was purchased by Thomas H. Handy in 1869, who quickly abandoned the coffee for booze (although they do make a coffee-flavored booze, so there's that, I guess).
I should probably reiterate that this blog topic was a stretch for me. I don't enjoy whiskey in general. About the only time I have liked it is when it's part of a mix, such as a whiskey sour, or the Irish Car Bomb. (Apologies if this moniker is offensive--I realize it's at least somewhat controversial, but that's what the bars called this combo of Guinness, Bailey's Irish Cream, and Jameson's whisky.) However, I have been pleasantly surprised by some edibles and drinkables that I thought I would hate before, so I gave this PB & J pack a fair trial, with an open palate.
99 Brand, peanut butter whiskey: Had a yellowish-brown color, and a detectable peanut butter odor. Tried it by itself first. The taste was....slightly better than regular whiskey, as it did taste a bit like peanut butter. And was smoother than typical whiskies. But this is damning with slight praise. It was almost decent at best.
99 Brand, strawberry liqueur: Was a clear hue, and also had a faint strawberry-like smell. The taste was also reminiscent of strawberries, but not enough to make it good. It was still pretty caustic and harsh. Did not hide its alcohol content.
99 Brand, grape liqueur: Also clear, and had the by now usual appropriate flavoring odor. This one was like its strawberry sibling--very harsh, and overly strong. The slight grape-y flavor was not enough to make this one tasty.
99 Brand, peanut butter whiskey and grape liqueur together: As in, mixed together in the same shot glass, half and half. Could still detect the separate flavors. The peanut butter part did improve the overall taste, as it cut the grape flavor some. But I still can't say I enjoyed it much.
99 Brand, peanut butter whiskey and strawberry liqueur together. Very similar to the previous mixing. Once again I could tell the different flavors apart. This one was slightly better than the PB and Grape one, but only slightly. Still overly harsh in total, and not very good.
In closing, then, I can't really recommend these, either by themselves or combined together. Maybe if you're a huge whiskey and peanut butter fan, and like very strong, fruity-flavored liqueurs, I suppose. I forgot to mention earlier, but the "99" part of the brand name also refers to the alcohol proof of their wares, so these were all 49.5% alcohol. Obviously the average strength of a hard liquor is usually about 40%, so these are unusually potent. So if nothing else, they do pack a punch. Finally, the packaging of these drinks was probably the worst I've ever experienced. The tiny bottles were extremely difficult to open--I had to use pliers to do so! The metal caps would turn, but not come off. So, about the kindest thing I can say about these is I appreciated the small, sample-size servings, so I wasn't required to purchase several large bottles of liquor to give them a try. I might try other Polynesian Products/99 Brand liquor combos if they're also available in tiny bottles, but I'm not especially optimistic, after this rather negative first experience.
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