Review: Fireball's Blazin' Apple Is A Deliciously Classic Fall Flavor

Fall is full of fright and delight: back-to-school shopping and an end to careless summer days, sweet treats and terrifying costumes, smooth pumpkin spice and sinful apple. To celebrate the coming of fall, Fireball has released a whole new flavor to enjoy during the seasonal festivities and even year-round. Before this release, Fireball fans would jerry-rig their favorite hard cider and Fireball to create a delicious pairing. With Blazin' Apple, Fireball takes a cue from its customers to make this combination even easier to achieve.

To determine if this new whisky flavor should join your home bar, I got my hands on an early sample. Ultimately, I'll make my recommendation on how enjoyable it is to drink on its own and whether it makes a tasty pairing for fall. So, the question is: Will Blazin' Apple be the perfect sip during your fall festivities or is it better left on the shelf?

Some recommendations are based on firsthand impressions of promotional materials and products provided by the manufacturer.

Starbucks may have devastated fans by removing anything apple from its fall drink menu, but other brands are seeing the obvious draw of this fall fruit. Cinnamon and apple go together like pumpkin and spice, so it's only natural that Fireball would take steps to create a flavor experience that gets to the very core of fall.

According to Fireball, the combination of cinnamon and apple is one that customers have been begging for. While many only see apple as the cozy orchard fruit, ripe with comforting memories of you-pick days and apple pie, Fireball sees apple in a whole different light. Instead of drawing on its homey taste and feel, the brand is keying in on the more sinister side of the apple: the forbidden fruit, the bite that nearly ends Snow White, and a temptation in the height of spooky season.

Apple is Fireball's first flavor extension. The whisky aims to retain the cinnamon spiciness while adding apple too, as a "sinfully sweet, spicy smooth flavor that's anything but basic."

The only heartbreak with fall flavors is that they disappear right around the time peppermint begins flooding the market. For those of us lost in the minty tidal wave, all that's left is a desperate desire for more year-round cozy treats. Thankfully, Fireball is saving us from this fate, offering its Blazin' Apple whiskey all year. That's right: This bottle is here to stay.

At 33% ABV, Blazin' Apple has the same alcohol per volume as the brand's cinnamon whisky. Though apple is in the name, a small notation on the back indicates that the whisky does not contain any fruit — however, it does have natural flavors, according to the labeling. I was sent Blazin' Apple in a 750-milliliter glass bottle, but it's also available in a smaller 10-pack of 50-milliliter serving sizes, perfect to share with friends around that fall bonfire.

As soon as I unpacked the Fireball after it arrived at my door, I noticed that it recommended serving it cold, so I stuck the bottle of whisky in the fridge for later. The Fireball team offered a few recommendations for serving. If you're wanting a super spicy experience, drinking Fireball Blazin' Apple straight up is always an option. It also makes a great mix into cocktails. For beer lovers, Fireball recommends adding one shot of the whisky to a pint of wheat beer.

For those wanting something of a juicier experience, Fireball recommends making a "Superjuice" drink by pairing cranberry juice and a little splash of pineapple juice with a 2-ounce pour of Blazin' Apple. Love tea? Try some Snapple with the Blazin' Apple. Get yourself a 6-ounce glass of your chosen Snapple flavor (sweet tea works well), two dashes of bitters, and a shot of the apple cinnamon whiskey.

Though those are Fireball's recommendations, I can imagine plenty of other ways to make this Blazin' Apple part of your year-round longing for fall. Personally, I'm eager to try it with some homemade apple cider, and that's definitely something I'll be offering around the table at Thanksgiving this year. I might even use Fireball instead of vodka to make apple pie shots or holiday Jell-O shots.

Upon opening the bottle, the very first thing I noticed was its smell: pure fall delight. Imagine a boozy apple orchard store and you've got it. I'll forever associate those smells with the fall opening of my favorite apple orchard, so to smell it here took me right back. It had the hint of candied apple (something like an apple Jolly Rancher candy) and that cinnamon smell that is absolutely stuck to crafty fall décor.

To get the very best sense of the flavors and how they would work with other mixtures, I chose to drink Blazin' Apple straight. The first flavor I got was a rather intense and spicy bite of cinnamon. Given the devil marketing on the front of the bottle, this wasn't terribly surprising, but I wondered where the apple was. Then, as that spice fell away, it came through, lingering with the slight remnants of cinnamon and a taste of a fresh-from-the-orchard apple. For a warming sipping experience, this is definitely one that would be tasty around a campfire straight up.

As a food writer, I get to try a lot of new drinks and alcohol, but it's not often I find something I absolutely love. Sometimes, items I expect to be knockouts are total letdowns. However, Fireball Blazin' Apple does not miss. It's the perfect fall accompaniment to keep in your fridge. In the heyday of fall when you're bouncing between haunted houses, massive meal plans, and pumpkin carvings, Blazin' Apple will deliciously accent each of those events. Then, in the summer, pair it with colder drinks for a bit of added brightness during excessively hot days. It'll even help keep you warm as the snow starts to fall and jingle bells get ringing in the winter, just as regular Fireball cinnamon whisky is one of the best types of liquor for spiked hot chocolate.

I love pumpkin spice season, but there's just something perfectly "fall" about apple in a way that reminds me of those autumn days as a kid, before pumpkin spice was even a whisper. This Blazin' Apple flavor is more of a classical fall taste rather than a viral pumpkin spice one.