The reason why so many distillers are going this route? In part, they’re simply taking a cue from the food world, which has embraced new and unusual flavors.

Or think of orange-flavored Irish whiskey. Think of Scotch finished in specialty casks (or, for that matter, tequila finished in Scotch casks). Moreover, there’s been a fair bit of experimentation in the spirits industry in recent years. Bailey is referring to pechuga, a style of the Mexican spirit that can be flavored with chicken, duck or maybe even a wild rabbit. “Mezcal has been doing it for years,” says Jared Bailey, a spirits expert who’s general manager of New York’s Soho Cigar Bar. For starters, it’s not quite as new an idea as you might think, say those in the booze world. Still, it’s important to bring a bit of context to the crustacean-flavored bourbon. Tamworth offered Crab Trapper as a limited-edition item, but distiller Matt Power expects the company will start producing more. I get it: There’s a shock factor here that’s hard to ignore. So it’s perhaps no surprise that the green-crab whiskey has become a viral sensation, covered in outlets ranging from Food & Wine to CBS News. Why not a whiskey?Īll this makes for one heckuva story. Which is why some smart folks, including a dedicated team at the University of New Hampshire that worked with Tamworth, are looking for other edible uses. Unlike their blue-colored brethren, green crabs don’t yield a lot of meat, so there’s no real market for them - at least as a main course - and thus no way to keep the population in check. Except in Maryland, you’ll find blue crabs, whereas the Tamworth whiskey is made with green crabs, an invasive species that has become a problem along the New England coast. In all, it’s like having a messy ol’ dinner of Maryland-style crabs, but in not-so-messy liquid form.

There’s also a lingering note of savory spice, reminiscent of the classic Old Bay seasoning. The crab flavor is, however, smartly balanced by the sweetness of the whiskey. You definitely get a mouthful of crab here - Tamworth says its recipe calls for creating a shellfish stock and then blending that with its bourbon. Or to quote my reaction: “You’ve got to be (bleeping) kidding.”īut I soon took my sample glass down to the distillery’s riverbank area and discovered the odd pleasures of crustacean-flavored bourbon. I had known about Tamworth from previously sampling its venison-flavored whiskey, aptly called Deerslayer, but when an employee showed me the Crab Trapper, I had to do a double take. I had the whiskey last week when I was on vacation in the Granite State and visited the distillery in its namesake town - a picture-perfect community sandwiched between mountain and lakeside locales.

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