Can’t stand the taste of regular old whiskey? Well, you’re in luck, because right now, we are living in a golden age of whiskey infusions. The idea of adding a little bit of flavor to whiskey is far from new — Wild Turkey’s honey infusion (known as American Honey since 2006) has been around since 1976. But, since the introduction of Jim Beam’s Red Stag cherry infusion in 2009, it seems everyone had gotten in on the action.

Now, local liquor stores offer a myriad of flavored whiskey options to choose from, ranging from a variety of honey offerings, as well as apple, cherry, strawberry, maple and even chocolate infused whiskeys. What better place to start than with one of the most ubiquitous offerings you can find on the shelves of local liquor stores and the inspiration for many shots: good old fashioned Fireball Cinnamon Whiskey.

Color: Predominantly amber in color with shades of dark honey.

Aroma/Body: No surprises here, it smells like cinnamon! (Though I suppose the bigger surprise would be if it didn’t smell like cinnamon!)

Taste/Palate: Compared with other cinnamon whiskeys, Fireball sits heavily on the tongue. It’s thicker and teeters on the edge of being syrupy and medicinal, but manages to avoid it. The cinnamon spice hits your taste buds hard, but not unbearably so. Bottom line, if you like cinnamon, you’ll dig it.

Finish: You know where the Fireball in ‘Fireball Whiskey’ comes out? In the finish. While the cinnamon spice is strong when you’re tasting it, going down, it spreads fast and warms you right up. At times the burn is almost too harsh — but again, if you’re fan of cinnamon, you’ll love this stuff.

The Mixmaster: If you don’t feel like knocking back shots of this all night, Fireball is great to mix in a drink. For my suggested Fireball mixer, I’m giving a shout-out to a colleague at my day job, J.B., whose drink of choice on a Saturday night is Fireball Whiskey mixed with, of all things, strawberry soda. (I know strawberry soda doesn’t usually leap to mind when you’re looking for mixers, but oddly enough, this one works amazingly well). He calls it ‘Red Hots’ because, well, mix this stuff up and it really does taste like you’re drinking Red Hots. Alcoholic, delicious Red Hots.

Overall: If you love cinnamon, then this is the whiskey for you. Fireball is available in 750 ml bottles for $17.99 and in handles for $28.99 at First Avenue Hy-Vee. If there’s a downside, it’s that you really have to love cinnamon to enjoy this whiskey — at times it’s almost cinnamon overload, but if you love to feel the burn (and I do), then you can’t go wrong with Fireball.

Grade: A-