Outside of the limited edition offerings released a few times a year from Haagen Dazs, I usually don’t find myself purchasing many of their flavors. When they recently released their last two limited batch flavors earlier this year, I made it a priority to track down the impressive sounding Peanut Butter Pie. Even though I was also interested in Bourbon Pecan Praline, it took nearly 6 months before I was finally able to find any. I’d heard a lot of conflicting reviews about this flavor, but considering the success of other flavors packed into their purple, limited edition pints, I decided to take advantage of the opportunity. Haagen Dazs has this to say, “Need a little southern charm? Try our Bourbon Pecan Praline ice cream: a unique blend of bourbon and brown sugar swirled into creamy, rich bourbon ice cream and perfectly balanced with pecan praline pieces – a sinfully indulgent escape!”
As usual, Haagen Dazs makes sure to keep intruders out by placing a protective plastic seal underneath the lid, but once that’s removed, I’m ready to dig in. The first layer of this 280 calorie per serving ice cream doesn’t look all that exciting; mostly light in color and only hints of the swirl and pecan pralines poking through the top. An alcohol infused flavor is something I’ve yet to try from Haagen Dazs, and since every company has different sentiments towards boozy ice cream, I’m interested to see what they have in store for us as far as potency is concerned. My first bite of the creamy, rich bourbon ice cream is a relief. The base has super-premium feel you’d expect from Haagen Dazs, but with a little bite on the backend. Each spoonful finishes with the smoky sweetness of the bourbon reduction even after the flavors of the cream and sugar have subsided.
After scraping off the first few layers, I start to encounter the plentiful pieces of pecan pralines and pools of bourbon and brown sugar swirl. Building on what the base has already started, the swirl brings about additional elements of sweetness, texture and even more bourbon. The pralines combine with both the ice cream and the brown sugar bourbon swirl to balance out the alcohol and add a little crunch. I’m usually leery of flavors built around booze, but Haagen Dazs is able to capture the distinct taste of bourbon without any of the bite by surrounding it with other sweet ingredients. While this can’t compete with the other limited edition offering, Peanut Butter Pie, it’s still worth picking up if you run across a pint.
Where I Found It: Publix
Grade: B
