Sommelier André Huston Mack returns to Bon Appétit, this time to taste and give his expert opinion on over a dozen liquors and spirits sold at Trader Joe's. Which of these discount bottles can hold their own against the pricier brand name options? Watch to discover where it makes sense to save a buck without sacrificing quality during your next trip to TJ's.
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00:00Hey, I'm Samuel André Houston Mack and today I'm going to be tasting over a dozen spirits
00:04that you can only buy at Trader Joe's. Trader Joe's is known for store brand products at an
00:08extremely low price. But does quality go down with the prices? I really hope not. And today
00:14I'm going to find out. So first up is Texas Vodka. This is $10.99. What's weird to me is just the
00:25Texas part of it. I don't think it's a thing in the sense of like, oh, that it has anything to
00:29do with Texas. It's more about the pride of Texas. But, you know, to me, it just kind of looks like
00:33a rip off of Tito's. Like Tito's started something is kind of piggybacking on that. It says Trader
00:37Joe's on the top of the label. But if you look closely on the back, this is bottled by Dynasty
00:42Spirits in Smithville, Texas. In the industry, this is what we call white labeling. So Trader
00:46Joe's is not actually making it. They're contracting a distillery and having them make it for them
00:52with their labels on it. And it's a kind of a cost effective way for them to use branding and the
00:56power of the brand of Trader Joe's without having to spend the money to go out and create a
01:01distillery. There is highly the possibility that this vodka exists somewhere else under a different
01:05label. Vodka is a distilled grain, whether it's corn, wheat, barley. So this says that it's been
01:11distilled six times. So they're taking the evaporation and that comes off the still and
01:15that's what's transformed into alcohol. You keep repeating that process and that's supposed to
01:19smooth it out. So the more times that it's distilled, the more perfect or smoother it will be.
01:24It doesn't really make a big enough difference for me to be able to tell. So we got this nifty
01:28glass. They don't make the glass anymore. You pour your amounts in the hollow stem and you can smell
01:32it. But the trick is, is that here instead of swirling, you turn the glass on its side and you
01:36roll it back and forth. And this coats the side of the glass very much and very similar to swirling
01:42the glass. Very different than wine, kind of same process, but the placement of the glass in my nose
01:47is very different. When I do spirits, I always try to rest the top of the glass on the bridge of my
01:51nose. Helps mitigate the harsh fumes and that burning sensation that you get because you're
01:55holding your nose a little bit further away from the glass. Smells like vodka. It's not rubbing
01:59alcohol, but there's definitely an association with it. It smells clean. It smells pure. Maybe a little
02:04cut grass. Very little. It tastes like vodka to me. It feels pretty well made, but it doesn't have a
02:09burning sensation. And at $10.99, it's solid. Next up is Trader Joe's Versatile Spirit Vodka. This
02:15comes in at $10.99. Front and center, it says distilled from grapes. Generally, when you think
02:21about vodka, it's been distilled from a grain. Grapes are not a grain. Ciroc was made from snap
02:26frost grapes and that created an ultra premium market. Wine is made from fermented grapes. So
02:32after the grapes have been dried and fermented, it's actually being distilled. It does list that
02:36it's a mix of Chardonnay, Merlot, Cabernet. So we're going to hop in here. And it definitely
02:41smells like rubbing alcohol. So there's a component where it has some underlying fruit in
02:47it, but it's not overpowering. It kind of just lingers in the background. It's on the rough side.
02:52I would call it rustic. Rustic, you know, I'm giving grace. It's rough. Not as polished, right?
02:58I would bet that this hadn't been distilled, you know, six times. This is cool. This would be fun
03:04to experiment and play around with. And the fact that it's in this under $15 category feels like
03:08I would have a couple of bottles of this on hand as, you know, play time and to show people
03:12because it's from grapes. It definitely has a different side to it. So next up is Kentucky
03:18bourbon straight whiskey at $15.99. In order for this to be bourbon, it has to be made with at
03:24least 51% corn. If it says Kentucky on it, it can only be made in Kentucky. When it says straight,
03:28it has to be aged at least two to three years. You can't add any additives or preservatives. All
03:33the rules about additives and rules in general is that people don't make the fake stuff. When
03:37you have a product that is of great notoriety, people start to knock it off or try to cut
03:41corners. So ideally not have any additives in it is, you know, holding people to a standard and
03:46a purity of the product. We're going to hop in here. It always smells like a nectarine to me.
03:51Nectarine, sandalwood, just a little bit of caramel and somewhat like ginger. That's doing
03:57the trick, right? When I think about like a corn based spirit, do I taste it? Like I think a lot
04:01of times that's where the caramelness comes from, at least for me. Obviously I knew it comes from
04:05the Barrow agent and those kinds of things. There's a richness to it, a mouthfeel that I get.
04:09This is hitting spot on for a whiskey. You know, when you take a two to three year old straight
04:13bourbon, straight whiskey, and you're like, okay, it's hitting on that note, like the follow through
04:18mid palette. And then you think about $15.99 and you're like, wow, price plays an important role
04:24in all of this. You're tasting in those parameters. You're like, wow, I tasted bourbons that are four
04:29times this amount that don't have some of these attributes. I think this is a great daily sipper
04:33and it's all the way Kentucky. Next up is Tennessee bourbon whiskey. This comes in at $14.99
04:41here. You see that it's called sour mash. They use mash from the previous distiller. And then
04:46they mix that in with the new mash because it's acidic and that makes it sour and it gives it a
04:51distinct flavor. In Tennessee, they actually have another set of rules called the Lincoln County
04:55process. To legally make Tennessee whiskey, ultimately it has to be charcoal filtered,
05:00right? And running it through these charcoal filters kind of strips some of the impurities
05:05out of the whiskey, but also in parts of distinct flavor. So this is everything that Jack Daniels
05:10does, right? Lincoln County is where Jack Daniels was invented. And it's basically taking their
05:14process and the process of the area into account. Color's definitely different. Darker hue.
05:20Smells like Jack Daniels to me. It smells like a fermented green tea. That's kind of spot on.
05:25$14.99. But I think you can buy Jack for the same price at this point. Yeah, it's not my favorite.
05:33Let me put it that way. If they're trying to imitate Jack Daniels, I'd rather have Jack
05:36just because it feels like something falls a little bit short here in that aspect of it. I
05:41wanted to like it more, I guess. This is Trader Joe's Blanco tequila, and this comes in at $19.99.
05:47Blanco refers to, in its raw state, it's been distilled, but it hasn't been aged. And generally,
05:52some of the other tequilas that you see that have been aged in oak, and they take on a more caramel
05:57tea kind of color. So 100% agave. Agave is the plant that's distilled to make this spirit.
06:03It's checking all the boxes. Talking about 100% agave. Okay, great. It has Jalisco. And then,
06:08you know, it's checking that other box. Like $19.99. Okay, all right, cool. So it checks out
06:13a lot of ways just on face value. When I think about Blanco tequila, I think the first thing to
06:17me, it's like there's a spice or like a pepper. You know, it's almost kind of like a white pepper
06:22that kind of jumps out of the glass. I'm getting that doesn't seem to be overwhelming at all. Like
06:28it's there, but it's not strong. And I would say the agave is shining through. It's just the most
06:32distinguishable thing about tequila. Like the thing that makes it distinguishable, that's the
06:37agave that you're tasting. It has that. There's a warmness to it, right? But like not overpowering
06:41the spirit. It's like not burning, you know, blowing the back of my head off. It's not
06:45like high alcohol, like in that sense. It just grows. It was more flavor as you start to swallow
06:50more on the back end than anything else. For me, this is ranch water, right? You know, this and
06:55sparkling water during the summer with some lime in it. You don't want to adulterate it,
06:59kind of have it in its purest form. It just tastes pretty natural. It tastes pretty good.
07:04So next up is Trader Joe's Añejo tequila. And this comes in at $22.99. We just had the Blanco.
07:10Now this is Añejo. What's the difference? Añejo has to spend up to three years in oak. That wood
07:16can be expressed through vanilla, through cinnamon. Because of the compounds that are in the spirit,
07:20kind of cling to the compounds in the oils released in the oak. It's really meant to be
07:24sipped and enjoyed like whiskey and or cognac. The noses are pretty closed on these. So when I say the
07:30nose is closed, it's just not giving much. I do get, you know, the spice, the peppers, the agave,
07:36you know, signature note, but it's not well pronounced, so to speak. For Añejo, this feels
07:40pretty watered down and weak to me. I think Añejo should have more flavor and be more pronounced.
07:46And I feel like this is not. It feels like the flavors are manufactured. It feels like there's
07:50some additives added to it. It could be 100% agave, but it still can allow up to 1% of different
07:57additives to it. So it just feels off in that sense. And it feels a little man-made, like
08:02slightly chemical. It's only $22. I much rather pay double and get something that I feel that is
08:08closer to the Añejo experience than this. So next up is Espada Pequeña Mezcal Artesanal.
08:15And this is $21.99. It's the smoky cousin of tequila. In the production of tequila,
08:20they use 100% blue agave. Mezcal is different. They can use several different agave plants,
08:26but they're using espadine here. The peñas are cooked off in a hole in the ground.
08:30That lends to the smoky flavor that you get in this particular spirit, which is its calling card.
08:36Oh yeah, there we go. It's like a smoky band-aid. That sounds so... When I think of the visual,
08:42it's really nasty. But it's a smoky band-aid. It feels like campfire-y, but then there's like a
08:47smokiness to it that makes it feel like it's from a chemical fire or like, you know, electrical fire.
08:52A little bit. It's got that agave like kind of bite that you get, right? Like it's more pronounced,
08:57but it has smoky overtones. It feels like a slight kind of chemical thing in the background.
09:02Drinking this spirit is almost like kissing a smoker, right? That's really what it kind of
09:08tastes like and feels like. It's like you're kissing somebody who's just smoked a cigarette.
09:12There's just something, a little thing missing that I can't go like, like you should jump out
09:16and drink this. I do like part of it, but like there's a chemical thing at the end that doesn't
09:20sit right with me. And it feels like it almost has a little sweetness to it that I don't find in
09:25others. If you want to understand exactly what it is, this will give you some assemblance at it at
09:29a fraction of the price. But I think you're missing out on some other stuff because it's just not quite
09:33there. All right, so this is Trader Joe's. This is its blended scotch whiskey. And this comes in at
09:38$11.99. This is a liter. So a liter at $11.99 equals value, banging value. So it's from Scotland.
09:47There's lots of different rules in order to be called scotch, but generally it is malted barley
09:51introduced to yeast and they have to use a certain type of water to distill it. It can be dried in a
09:56kiln with peat. It doesn't have to be. Sometimes they're peated, sometimes they're not. This is
10:00blended scotch whiskey. And that means that you can use distillant from multiple different
10:04distilleries. They blend for a consistency. So the idea is that they want to make a signature style
10:09and a signature taste. You're going to hop in here. Oh, wow. I don't smell anything. So it's really not
10:14giving anything off the nose. There's things and scents jumping out of glass. It's very muted. You
10:18don't get anything. It really tastes like watered down scotch. Like it has traces of those elements.
10:24You're like, I know that you're in there somewhere, but it's been watered down. Like this is like
10:28after my uncle used to come to my house, right? When I was a kid and he would drink it all and
10:34then he would refill it with water. And then he got caught because my dad would mark it with a
10:37grease pen and he got busted. This is what that tastes like. That's whack, bro. That's whack. Keep your $11.99.
10:46So moving right along, this is Trader Joe's Highland Single Malt Scotch Whiskey, 10-year. And this comes
10:52in at $26.99. Those things don't add up. 10-year, age statement, $26.99. So it's $27. USD. USD.
11:03Just doesn't happen. Single malt doesn't mean single barrel. Single malt means that it's from
11:07one distillery. Having it come from one place is revered in the marketplace as a sign of quality.
11:13You get it from one place, they distilled it, they know how it fits and works, and that's it.
11:17And something like a 10-year age statement on it makes it rare, meaning that it's been in barrel
11:22for 10 years. Once you put it in a bottle, it stops aging, right? So all the aging process
11:27has to take place in a barrel. It's contact with wood that impart different flavors. And the longer
11:32that it sees time in oak and takes on a lot of different flavors like leather, wood, oak, cinnamon,
11:40a lot of those things are less pronounced but more integrated. I always kind of look at the
11:43back of the bottles to do a little bit of investigative work. And so this is Alexander
11:47Murray out of Scotland. What's interesting is when we did Costco, it's the same distillery.
11:52And we tasted their 12-year. And it's kind of worth pointing out that some of these spirits
11:56are coming from the same place. Here it goes. It's got that Petit Pablo. All right, so it's Petit.
12:01Like a Band-Aid smells to me. A clean Band-Aid, might I say. A clean Band-Aid. Petit is what I'm
12:06getting. I'm definitely getting that honey. It's somewhat floral. There's an element of flowers.
12:11I don't know. I feel like maybe I'm being too hard on them. It feels somewhat soulless, right?
12:15There's not a depth to it or complexity to it that you can go in over and over that's deep
12:21and you can lose yourself in it. But then I say, it's 10 years old. Let's say that's true.
12:28And it's $26.99. To me, it falls a little short. And I think for other people, maybe it wouldn't.
12:34So next up is Trader Joe's Special Reserve Irish Whiskey. And this comes in at $15.99.
12:41What distinguishes Irish Whiskey from Scotch Whiskey? They can use malted or unmalted barley.
12:46But here, they kind of skipped the whole process of using peat. And so it comes out a little bit
12:51cleaner and less smokier. I think Irish Whiskey has been known for easy drinking. It's definitely
12:56filled many a college campus as a shot. It's easier on the palate than some of the other
13:02whiskeys in that particular area. And because of that, it comes at a decent price point that
13:07feels economical to most people. So if you read the back label, it talks about that they had
13:11linked up with an Irish whiskey family that's been dedicated to crafting high quality whiskey
13:16since the 18th century. And then what you realize is that they prominently left their name off.
13:21And I think that's by design. They tell a little bit of the story. But a lot of these deals and
13:26white label deals, they actually are not allowed to disclose where it comes from. That would bring
13:31down the value if it's something that you already know. If Trader Joe's is selling the exact same
13:36thing at a lower cost, everybody needs to feel protected in order for it to work. On the smell,
13:41it's just completely clean. And actually, this is jumping out of the glass. It smells like whiskey.
13:46It definitely smells like whiskey. There's a little grassy note to it. No kind of like hay.
13:52Fruit-wise, you know, maybe like sun-dried apples, something like that. I like that. There's a wallop
13:58to it, but it's there and it's gone. I have my fair shots of JMO, you know what I mean? But this
14:03falls right in that ballpark to me. And it feels like that you can get it at a better price. This
14:08is the kind of spirits that you actually put in the crystal clear decanter at your house. Like,
14:12when you get too drunk, you switch to that. When, you know, friends that are over, like, you know,
14:16my wife's always like, don't waste it on them. But I think also like having the basics in a
14:20bar, which are great. And this feels like it fits right in and slides great in with that basic
14:24on an economic scale that feels very friendly. This is, you know, is much easier on the palate.
14:32Next up is Rum of the Gods, white rum. And this comes in at $8.99. I feel like every spirit has
14:41kind of gotten this just due, except rum. The higher end rums, I always felt like, you know,
14:46are really akin to bourbons and cognacs that should be sought after in the same way and
14:51sips and enjoyed in the same way. So what makes rum different? We use sugarcane here in rum versus,
14:58you know, agave and tequila or wheat or barley or some, you know, other things in vodka. The
15:03sugarcane is fermented and turned into rum. It's a product of Barbados, very small Caribbean
15:09island. White rum is kind of like Blanco tequila, kind of it's in its rawest form. And then as you
15:14start to think about rums and how they take on color, they achieve color through aging through
15:18oak barrels. It smells slightly like powdered sugar. I get that kind of in the background,
15:23but like mainly, it smells like alcohol. Tasting this kind of brings me back to, like, why I don't
15:28drink a lot of white rum. White rum to me, you know, it kind of falls into that same category as
15:34vodka. Rum, you know, maybe has a little bit more viscosity in like this form, but you pour it in
15:39drinks and you mix it with something and that brings it all to life. And now it's popping,
15:43right? You know what I'm saying? This is kind of like, ah. Is it like good rum? Like, I think so.
15:48I think I would want a little bit more texture or something to it, like a grip. It doesn't have
15:53any of that. It's just kind of like water and, you know, it stings at the end. This is kind of like,
15:58ah. All right, so we're moving right along. This is Trader Joe's Rum of the Gods Dark Rum. It's
16:05coming in at a whopping $8.99 USD. It looks exactly the same as the white rum. It brings
16:12on the color. What I'm hoping for is that there's some depth there. I want a little bit of after
16:17taste. I want some deep flavors. I'm asking for a lot at $8.99. Let's see if we got it here. The
16:23Rum of the Gods. There's a little bit of sweetness, a little bit of caramel in the back there.
16:29Smells like brown sugar, light brown sugar. Out of the two, I would buy this one. I would buy
16:36the dark rum because the darker the berry, the sweeter the juice, right? You know what I mean?
16:40Like this is, it's got flavor. If you've ever had sugarcane, that's what that tastes like,
16:44ever so slightly. All these things, when I'm saying like what I'd like them or don't like
16:47them, I think some of them have a place, like where they can be used at. At this price, $8.99,
16:52I'm making some tiki drinks at my house. I'd make punch with this and it'd be fun.
16:58Next up is Art of the Still Organic Gin coming in at $15.99. Gin is a distilled spirit. Generally,
17:06it's done with a group of botanicals. It can be coriander, cloves. What's playing the lead role
17:12is juniper berry. That's where you're deriving a lot of that taste that you talk about in gin.
17:17It feels like gin you can't really mess up unless there's not enough botanicals, right? I feel like
17:22that's what makes gin gin is the botanicals. It should have these aromats that like are out of
17:28this world and that's what I'm hoping for. Like just an overabundance of those things and still
17:32be true to gin. Already, you know, it's just aromats popping out of the glass, just a consortium
17:39of juniper berry, coriander. There's lemon lime. That's magnificent, actually. It's quite herbaceous
17:48on the palate. I wouldn't say that that makes it stand out to be classic gin, but I think it makes
17:54it a classic variation of it, which is fun and I think has a time and place when you're thinking
17:58about using this particular spirit in a cocktail. That's righteous. I like that. I can appreciate
18:03that. Always an eye-opening experience. There were some really great values and some things
18:09here that I felt like really stood out and that were fun. There's some winners and some losers
18:13here, but I'm all about positivity and let's focus on the winners. White rum to me, you know, it kind
18:20of falls into that same category as vodka. If you went to somebody's house and they're just drinking
18:24vodka straight up, like you would think something's wrong with them. Like, you know what I mean? Like
18:28you're like, really? Like, you're just drinking that?
18:32Is he? That's wild. No offense, Papa, but that's some wild **** right there.
18:38You know what I mean? That's diabolical. Like, you're just drinking vodka like that's wild.