Häagen-Dazs - Bourbon Vanilla Bean Truffle

Bourbon Vanilla Bean Truffle - Vanilla Bean Ice Cream with Chocolate Truffles and a Spicy Bourbon Swirl

Today we continue with the Spirits Collection from Häagen-Dazs.  This pint is called Bourbon Vanilla Bean Truffle.  This is the second of the two bourbon-themed pints in the collection.  The other is a pint which actually pre-dated the collection itself:  Bourbon Pecan Praline debuted a couple of years ago.  There, the mix-ins were praline pecans, here the mix-ins are chocolate truffles.  Let's see how the two flavors compare.

The top of the pint has a marbled appearance.  I can see the light color of the vanilla base but I also see the swirls of bourbon.  The swirls seem to be half blended in.  There aren't really ribbons of pure bourbon in there, but you can tell by the differences in coloration that some places have more bourbon in it than others.  Digging in, I taste the bourbon right away.  The description labels it as a 'spicy' bourbon.  It does have more of an edge or kick to than the pecan praline flavor which was quite sweet.  I checked the ingredient list and see brown sugar and molasses, but I don't see specific spices listed.  For me, I'm going to read 'spicy' as having that edge or kick.  As with all the other flavors in the spirits collection, the bourbon flavor is quite aromatic but it is not so intense as to be considered 'boozy'.  As I continue eating, I run into the truffles, these are sizeable chunks of chocolate.  The chunks are not 'filled' but the chocolate is quite chewy in texture.  They tasted quite good.

This is a fun an interesting bourbon-themed pint.  Since there are two 'bourbon' flavors in the spirits collection, I like that they introduced such a noticeable contrast between the two.  This pint has more of a burn or kick to the bourbon and uses a chewy chocolatey mix-in while the Bourbon Pecan Praline flavor is a much sweeter bourbon which a crunchy nutty mix-in.