Tillamook - Pendleton Whisky & Maple

Pendleton Whisky & Maple - Whisky Frozen Custard with a Whisky Maple Swirl

Today we return to Oregon's Tillamook valley for other flavor from the Tillamook Creamery.  This flavor is called Pendleton Whisky & Maple.  Pendleton is a brand of Canadian Whisky which is distributed in Hood River, Oregon.  I see the 'whisky' spelling and I am used to it being spelled 'whiskey'.  I can't remember if I have looked this up before, but I will look it up again.  The 'whisky' spelling is Scottish while the 'whiskey' spelling is Irish.  Here the whisky is paired with maple syrup.  I have only had a few maple-syrup-centric pints before -- flavors from Graeter's and Izzy's which use a maple-syrup base and flavors from Coolhaus and Yeti which include a maple-syrup swirl.  This pint is also listed as a frozen custard rather than an ice cream.  This usually means there is more than the usual amount of eggs in the base mixture. Anyhow, I am looking forward to this flavor.

Removing the lid, the whisky base is an off-white tan color.  Digging in, the base is creamy.  As for the frozen custard label, it may be slightly easier to scoop of the carton out than the usual ice cream, but it still feels like ice cream to me.  Soon after digging in my spoon, I encounter the whisky maple swirls.  These are delicious, they taste like good maple syrup but there is a little bit of whisky blended in which keeps it from tasting too sweet.  There is some whisky in the base as well, but it is fairly mild.  Here the base serves as the vehicle to deliver the swirls.  I am impressed that the maple swirls manage to stay intact because maple likes to blend in and become part of the base.  Here, the swirls have a caramel-like consistency while tasting like maple syrup, of course.

I really enjoyed this pint.  The maple syrup swirls are excellent and the whisky darkens the flavor up a bit without being at all boozy.  It is a unique flavor as well.  It doesn't compare directly to any of other maple syrup flavors I listed above because of the whisky and also because there are no mix-ins.  Check it out.