Jeni's - Cognac with Gingerbread

Cognac with Gingerbread - Warming Cognac Ice Cream, with Notes of Butterscotch and Brown Sugar. Dark Caramel Sauce and Heavily Spiced Gingerbread Cake Pieces Throughout.

I have returned to Minnesota after my trip to New York City trip for the Thanksgiving holiday.  Arriving not long after I returned was my only Black Friday purchase -- six pint of Jeni's Ice Cream!  Jeni's has several holiday flavors every year and they offer a six-pints-for-the-price-of-four sale as well.  That combination makes them the ideal choice for a Black Friday ice cream shipment.  I have already reviewed half of this year's holiday flavors in previous years.  That leaves more of the shipment for some of the other non-holiday flavors that are not carried by my local Whole Foods but that I have always wanted to try.  There was Boozy Egg Nog, Sweet Potatoes and Torched Marshmallows and Pumpkin 5-Spice -- all pretty good and I will forward you to those reviews.    There are still two holiday-themed flavors which are new to me this year.  The first of those flavors is called Cognac with Gingerbread.  The description of this flavor seems very high class -- like it's the type of ice cream that they might serve at a polo match or something.  I have actually had cognac in ice cream once before and it was pretty good.  I am looking forward to checking this out.

Opening the pint, I see a gritty looking base (light in color) with one hunk of caramel visible and some darker spots.  At first, they look like chocolate chips but checking the ingredients, I see they must be the gingerbread.  The first spoonful is full of cognac flavor!  It is not at all 'boozy', but I can taste a lot of the flavor of the distilled wine.  Jeni's uses tapioca syrup to thicken their ice cream which also make it slower to melt.  In contrast, a high alcohol content lowers the freezing point and makes the ice cream quicker to melt.  This ice cream is its normal thick and creamy self.  I'm guessing they may have let a bit of the alcohol evaporate off so that we get the flavor of the cognac without the effects of the alcohol.  The taste is very good, though, so I don't might.  It's very unique, too.  I like excellent flavors that feel new.  The first mix-ins I encounter are the chunks of caramel sauce.  These are thick but not chewy and deliver excellent caramel flavor that goes well with the cognac.  Next I encounter the gingerbread pieces.  These are chewy little nuggets.  They don't pack as much gingerbread flavor as I was expecting.  I had to stop and focus on an individual piece to taste it.  Perhaps my mouth was too full of cognac and caramel flavors?  They are fun to chew on, though.

This is an excellent holiday pint of ice cream!  The cognac flavor is amazing and unique.  The caramel is quite good, as well.  The gingerbread here plays only a supporting role, but that is OK.  If you find a pint of this available somewhere, don't hesitate to check it out.