In the world of hard seltzer, the flavor profiles follow a pretty standard course: fruit, sweetness, perhaps some minerality, and (ideally) a crisp finish. They tend to be ephemerally light throughout, which is part of the easy-drinking appeal. There are some which expand upon this with herbs, mint, cucumber, and so on, but otherwise the ones I’ve tried adhere to the same template (to varying degrees).

Then along comes the Dragon’s Share series from New Holland Brewing, which caught my eye immediately because they are billed as “bourbon barrel seltzers” with the description telling us:

Dragon’s Share Bourbon Barrel Seltzer represents a true innovation in flavor. Pure water is aged in freshly dumped bourbon barrels, reclaiming fire and flavor from deep within the walls of the charred American oak. The result is a refreshing and exciting new adventure for fans of both seltzer and bourbon.

The brewery introduced these this spring, and sent me a 12-can variety pack to sample. My thoughts are below; though instead of my usual beer tasting format, these are free-form thoughts I wrote as I drink. It just doesn’t make much sense to try the usual sensory format with seltzer.

All of these hard seltzers share the same stats: 4.6% alcohol by volume and 90 calories per 12-ounce can.

Dragon’s Share Original

Fizzy, clear, yellow-brown color that’s kind of like a watered down bourbon. It’s got a noticeably pronounced bourbon and charred barrel aroma, lightly oaky with a tinge of wet campfire (burnt wood). The flavor is ever-so-subtle bourbon and mostly carbonated mineral water, slightly alkaline. It’s probably fairly similar to a bourbon and soda, but watered down—i.e., a lot more soda that booze. For what it advertises, it’s successful and not bad at all.

Dragon’s Share Blackberry

Take the base flavor and add fruit. Orange has a similar appearance to Original, that of watered bourbon, with a pinkish tinge to it. A blackberry soda aroma is prominent with a touch of sweet jam. There’s less club soda/mineral water character in the flavor, supplemented by a squirt of Torani blackberry syrup and a hint of bourbon. It’s a touch earthy, crisp, and refreshing(ish).

Dragon’s Share Orange

The same basic, common appearance as the previous, with perhaps a bit more orange but it’s subtle if so. Smells like orange soda with a touch of fresh orange peel (think classic Orange Crush). Pretty mellow flavor, going toward the bourbon and soda profile with a dash of orange oil (or orange bitters). A bit more muddled than the blackberry, but not bad.

Dragon’s Share Cherry

Clear and bright and slightly more pale that the others, more golden than brown. Nice candy note with the cherry—Jolly Ranchers candy or cherry cough drops, which is nice and pleasant. Flavor is accordingly light and perhaps slightly medicinal—cherry cough syrup? Or is that subliminal because I was already thinking “cough drops”? There’s a bare minimum of bourbon but it’s kind of nice with the wisp of cherry. Still medicinal-y into the finish; cherry Chapstick?

All in all, if I were actively drinking hard seltzers and these were available to me, they’d be high on my list. Of course I like bourbon so that’s definitely part of the appeal, along with the fact that these seltzers are bringing a unique flavor angle to the market.

(Incidentally, New Holland also has a line of “Lake Life” flavored seltzers that are spiked with vodka, as well as canned cocktails.)