Jeni's - Middle West Whiskey & Pecans

Middle West Whiskey & Pecans - Middle West Spirits Whiskey Ice Cream with Crunchy, Salty, Toasted Pecans

We return to the Columbus-based Jeni's brand for their Middle West Whiskey & Pecans flavor.  When I first saw the name of the flavor, I figured it was a reference to the fact that Ohio is considered part of the midwest, but it turns out that Middle West Spirits is a brand of whiskey made in the Columbus area.  The Middle West distillery was founded in 2008 and they have been partnering with Jeni's for several years.  The partnership also results in an egg nog flavor -- perhaps a seasonal flavor because it is currently unavailable.  I am looking forward to checking this out.

Opening the pint shows that the base ice cream is an off-white beige color with hints of mix-ins that are present below.  The whiskey flavor is quite noticeable in the first spoonful.  It is a sweet whiskey as opposed to the type of bourbon whiskey which provides a bit of a burn in the back of your throat.  As far as sweet whiskeys go, it is not as sweet as Häagen-Dazs' Bourbon Praline Pecan which had extra brown sugar in it creating an almost candy-like whiskey experience.  The pint here was a bit more balanced.  The Jeni's flavor page says there are also "notes of butterscotch, honey, coconut, and vanilla" blended into the base.  I don't know if I could pick out each of those, but I appreciate that Jeni Britton Bauer uses great care when concocting her flavor mixes.  The pecan mix-ins were evenly distributed throughout the pint and were quite good.

I very much enjoyed this pint.  Whiskey & pecans is one of the more common flavor combinations and this is one of the better implementations.  To compare to other brands, McConnell's uses a whiskey that creates a mild burn in the back of your throat and also had a few more pecans. Häagen-Dazs has a sweet whiskey.  I liked it, but it may be a bit too sweet for some.  Jeni's provides a more balanced sweet whiskey flavor that you might expect from a super-premium brand.  Check it out if you can find it.