The bottle
Elvis Whiskey Midnight Snack, $29.
The backstory
Elvis Presley left the building a long time ago, but his spirit lives on in a host of ways — most notably at his Graceland estate in Memphis., Tenn., which remains a popular tourist attraction.
Now there’s an actual Elvis spirit inspired by his favorite late-night snack.
Grain & Barrel Spirits, a Charleston, S.C.-based company, last year launched Midnight Snack — a flavored whiskey that honors Elvis’s love of a good peanut butter, banana and bacon sandwich. Will Woodington, the company’s brand ambassador, told MarketWatch that Grain & Barrel had been approached by the Presley estate about a whiskey venture a few years earlier, and that led to the release of Elvis-themed rye and Tennessee whiskeys. Initially, the idea was to sell them only at Graceland, but they proved so popular that the spirits company took them to the broader retail market.
Knowing that the flavored-whiskey category was hot — global sales of the category are expected to rise from $27.9 billion in 2022 to $47.1 billion in 2030 — the next logical step was for Grain & Barrel to go that route with its Elvis Whiskey line, and the peanut-butter-banana-bacon idea came calling.
“We figured that if we could execute this combination in a flavored whiskey form, we’d have one of the most delicious and unique products in the market,” Woodington said.
There’s some chemistry involved in crafting this sandwich-inspired whiskey, he noted. To create Midnight Snack, the company begins with a base of Tennessee whiskey and then layers in artificial peanut butter, banana and bacon flavors.
Grain & Spirits said there’s been a strong response so far to the whiskey, and the company is looking into creating special events around Midnight Snack, such as Elvis-themed bingo nights, as a “really fun way for consumers to engage with his music while enjoying an Elvis cocktail.”
What we think about it
I’ve eaten the classic Elvis sandwich on occasion and have written about it, too. It’s definitely got that over-the-top vibe, but the sweet-salty-and-creamy combo does make for tasty snacking, at midnight or otherwise. The whiskey version doesn’t quite replicate that flavor fully, but it’s an amusing sip on its own terms.
You’ll get a lot of banana flavor — Woodington likens it to banana taffy specifically. But there’s a hint of peanut butter and an even more subtle hint of bacon on the back end.
Serious whiskey drinkers eschew this kind of thing, but Midnight Snack will likely work for those who enjoy some sweetness with their spirits. And needless to say, there’s plenty of novelty appeal for Elvis fans.
How to enjoy it
This is pretty much a cocktail in a bottle, so I’d just add ice and drink it as you would any mixed drink. Grain & Barrel also suggests trying it in an old fashioned.
