Fireball

Fireball hits sweet and syrupy first — liquid Red Hots and cinnamon imperials — then blooms into a sharp, warming, almost peppery cinnamon burn that gives the brand its name. Beneath the candy sits a thin tannic backbone of Canadian whisky and a faint medicinal, hot-spice edge, but the sugar and cinnamon dominate. The texture is light and slightly viscous, the alcohol muted for a whisky at 33 percent ABV, and the finish lingers hot and sweet, tingling on the tongue like cinnamon hard candy. It is engineered to slam cold as a shot rather than to be nosed and sipped.