Flaviar’s Grilled & Distilled Box Review: Get Ready for Summer With Whiskey and Barbecue
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I tried Flaviar’s new summer box, and here’s what I thought.
Food & Wine / Jason Devaney
Whiskey and barbecue go together like peanut butter and jelly, and the folks at Flaviar know this all too well. Enter the company’s exclusive new Grilled & Distilled Summer Box, launched in partnership with award-winning American pitmaster, chef, and restaurateur George “Tuffy” Stone. Also known by his alias, “The Professor,” Stone is a five-time world barbecue champion who has made appearances on TV shows like BBQ Pitmasters and Food Network’s Flay v. Simon. He's also the owner and founder of “Q Barbeque,” a restaurant chain based in his home state of Virginia.
Billed as “The Ultimate BBQ & Whiskey Tasting Set,” Flaviar’s Grilled & Distilled Box contains all the fixings for a truly memorable barbecue and whiskey experience. I got ahold of a box ahead of its official release; here’s what I thought of this fun and flavorful tasting kit.
Related:Buy Flaviar’s Grilled & Distilled Box Now!
Food & Wine / Jason Devaney
How I Tested the Service
Testing this Grilled & Distilled Box was pretty straightforward. The box was packed with products, including BBQ sauce, seasonings, and, of course, whiskey. I don’t have a means of making pit barbecue in my small uptown apartment, and it was too cold and rainy in Chicago during my testing period to light up a grill in a park. So, to improvise, I used the sauce and seasonings to flavor a pan-fried chicken breast. The experience was very enjoyable and delicious.
Whiskey, on the other hand, is much more my strong suit. Some friends and I got together for a casual cocktail night where I whipped up some whiskey sours, Manhattans, and old-fashioneds with the excellent whiskies that Flaviar provided, in addition to enjoying some neat and some on the rocks. I was happy to see some of my favorites like Breckenridge, WhistlePig, and Remus included in this box.
Cost
The Grilled & Distilled Box goes for $225, which seems like a good deal when you factor in what you’re getting: 10 tasting vials of whiskey, a rocks glass, and some high-quality grilling essentials, along with Stone’s cookbook, Cool Smoke: The Art of Great Barbecue. What’s more, you’ll also get a year’s worth of Flaviar’s Base Membership — a $60 value that gives you access to premium spirits from all over the globe, plus special pricing in Flaviar’s online bottle shop, free shipping on all orders over $60, first dibs on exclusive bottlings, and plenty of educational resources to expand your knowledge of whiskey.
Related:Buy Flaviar’s Grilled & Distilled Box Now!
Food & Wine / Jason Devaney
Packaging
The Grilled & Distilled box is quite large — 22 inches wide, almost 5.5 inches high, and 10 inches deep. Mine was packaged in a much larger shipping box that was stuffed with bubble and paper materials to keep it from shifting around too much during transit.
The box itself is quite stunning to look at, with artwork on the top and familiar Flaviar images — logos and other branding — scattered throughout the sides. On the bottom is a full list of what’s included in the box.
Opening the top lid reveals more Flaviar branding inside the flap. Opposite that are several compartments with perforated openings that hold all the goodies. Each one has a tab that helps you get a finger under each compartment’s lid so that you can open it. The compartments themselves are well-engineered — each one is lined with thick foam padding that keeps everything safe. Further inspection revealed a maze of foam inserts inside the box, with cutouts of various sizes to hold the tasting vials, rocks glass, and the other items.
Contents
The Grilled & Distilled box contains the following:
One 16-ounce bottle of Tuffy Stone Original BBQ Sauce
One 7-ounce jar of Tuffy Stone Everything Seasoning
One 10-ounce jar of Tuffy Stone Classic BBQ Rub
Tuffy Stone’s cookbook, Cool Smoke: The Art of Great Barbecue
One rocks glass engraved with the Flaviar logo and the words, “Grilled & Distilled”
10 50-milliliter tasting vials of whiskey:
Stauning Smoke
St George Baller Single Malt
Corn Trooper Batch 1
Breckenridge Bourbon
Uncle Nearest 1884
Frey Ranch Straight Bourbon
Calumet Farm 10-Year-Old Bourbon
WhistlePig PiggyBack 100 Proof Bourbon
Castle & Key Restoration Rye
Remus Straight Bourbon
Each tasting vial is numbered for the ultimate taste-testing experience. The whiskeys are all listed on the bottom of the box. I was excited to see that one of my personal favorites, a whiskey from Breckenridge Distillery, was included. Breckenridge was among the winners at the 2023 World Whiskies Awards.
Related:Buy Flaviar’s Grilled & Distilled Box Now!
Food & Wine / Jason Devaney
Options
In addition to the Grilled & Distilled Box, Flaviar also boasts some of the best spirits clubs on the market. Starting at just $26 per month, these clubs deliver either a full bottle or a “tasting box” of a particular spirit to your home every month. The tasting boxes include three sample-sized vials of your spirit of choice, whether that’s whiskey, bourbon, Scotch, rum, tequila, gin, vodka, brandy, cognac, or even absinthe. Memberships are available in either three-, six-, or 12-month increments, and subscribers can also visit Flaviar’s online shop to grab their favorite bottles.
Flavor
The sauce was absolutely delicious. It was rich, sweet, and smoky — everything that a barbecue sauce should be. The longer it stays in your mouth, the sweeter it gets, which I really enjoyed. The Classic BBQ Rub and the Everything Seasoning were both great too, and they paired well with the sauce.
As I mentioned, the whiskey was fantastic. I was really happy with the variety that Flaviar offered, and the emphasis on quality meant that there was no whiskey in this box that I didn’t enjoy. Putting each one of these on a bit of ice allowed for their subtle flavors to express themselves — but if that’s not your thing, then they all taste great in classic whiskey cocktails, too.
Final Thoughts
Overall, I was extremely happy with the product I received, and I would recommend the Grilled & Distilled Box to anyone who loves whiskey. It’s a great asset to spark a fun food-and-drinks night at home, and it works just as well as a way to leap into barbecue or whiskey yourself. (It also makes an excellent gift for Father’s Day!) In the meantime, I’ll have to try not to use up all of this barbecue sauce too quickly, or I’ll be making a trek to Virginia for some Q Barbeque imminently.
Related:Buy Flaviar’s Grilled & Distilled Box Now!
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