Color is a clear and bright Pantone 123. Here we have a veritable cornucopia of cinnamon: all three cassia types—Indonesian, Chinese, and Saigonese—as well as Sri Lankan (formerly Ceylon) cinnamon. The cinnamon manifests itself in both ground and curled-stick forms, and there’s even some nuzzling against clove and nutmeg adjacencies, respectively, as if printed on a spice-themed periodic chart. The impression is familial, ranging from the overpriced Red Hots that you bought for your 8th-grade girlfriend at the local movie theater to Grandad’s overspiced mulled cider to your sister’s Home-Ec Christmas cookies. The palate has a glycerin mouthfeel, with a viscosity reminiscent of the finest Extra Virgin Olive Oil from the Gaiole region of Chianti. And the finish? Not quite Red Hots, but rather the third or possibly the second inner ring of Atomic Fireball Jawbreakers. The uninitiated may be unaware of the fact that Fireball is produced by Sazerac—yes, THAT Sazerac. Speculation varies as to the whiskey component, with some insisting it is a lower rickhouse reserved for Weller 12; others saying that it is a combination of Blanton’s and Elmer T. Lee; and still another group stating that there’s a little Pappy 23 in the mashbill because everyone has realized that the 23 is nothing but overpriced tannic wood secretions which has forced Sazerac-owned Buffalo Trace to write it off on their balance sheet and unload the extra inventory—hence the “Collector’s Edition” designation. Dear reader, don’t take my word for it: no less an authority than the Master Taster at whisky.com, Horst Leuning, goes positively apoplectic over Fireball (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wc5qr5v0BZk). And his drooling is over the mere regular bottling rather than the Hell-influenced Collector’s Edition label, adorned with a spawn of Satan that is part Chinese Fuzanglong and part Dante’s demon half-frozen in ice in the ninth circle of hell (this latter image intended for those drinkers who choose to enjoy their whiskey on the rocks). The more pedestrian bottlings of Fireball can be had for around $15 retail. However, the limited-release Collector’s Edition reflected in this tasting is offered only in years where the last two digits are a prime number, and are thus far more scarce. Would I buy it again? Yes. 3.0 on the Distiller scale. 33% ABV. Natural cinnamon flavor (multiple geographies). N.B. All spirits tasted neat in a Glencairn glass.