Howler Head is it a Bourbon or It Is A Banana Lolly in a Glass?

Tonight, we’re diving into Howler Head – the official flavored bourbon of the UFC – and possibly the wildest pour yet on Aussie Bourbon Lovers.

This banana-flavoured bourbon takes us straight back to Aussie childhoods, lolly bags, and sugar highs – and maybe a little bourbon underneath?

We chat about:

• 🥃 Banana lollies vs. real banana flavour

• 🧠 What (if any) bourbon notes are still in the glass

• 🍌 What this bottle says about where flavoured bourbon is heading

• 🥊 And yes, a lot of confused UFC banter

Fun, punchy, nostalgic and weird — just like the bottle.

🟠 Keywords: Howler Head, UFC bourbon, banana bourbon, flavored whiskey, bourbon podcast, banana lollies, Aussie bourbon, novelty bourbon

 

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to Howler Head Bourbon 03:02 Tasting Notes and Flavour Profile 05:55 Bourbon Classification and Regulations 08:46 RTDs and Bourbon in Australia

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Incredible flavours, even better stories.

(00:05):
One Pour, 10 Minuts.
Aussie bourbon lovers, sharingbourbon with Australia.
I got a pop.Well done.
There you go.What are we drinking tonight, Dave?
This is so fun, and I'm-Sorry, justbrought my heart pouring the drink.
What are we drinking today?I'm proud to admit that this is your idea.

(00:27):
This is a Howler Head, the officialFlaved Bourbon of the UFC.
Do you know what UFC stands for?
Ufc?See if you can get it right.
One of the words is fighting.American.
American doesn't start with U, F, or C.
So I love that you havegone for a- United Fighting.

(00:48):
I don't know.
I think it stands for ultimate fightingchampionship, but I'm not sure.
I think there was an episode of Friendswhere one of the characters
was going to be in the UFC.Cheers.
Cheers.
Why are we talking about UFC?
When we're drinking hell ahead?
Can you hold it up to the camera forthe good folks on the YouTube channel?
For those who are listening, it's got avery hilarious monkey screaming whilst

(01:10):
wearing glasses, sunglassesin a very bright red and yellow.
It's wacky in exactly theright amount of wacky.
It would stand out on a shelf.Exactly.
Come on then.Nose it and tell me what you're getting.
It's just tropical junglefull of banana lollies.
I'm not getting anythingexcept for banana lollies.

(01:30):
It literally takesyou back to your childhood.
It's just like you're nosinga packet of banana lollies.
There's no other- If you're not from aterritory that has banana lollies in
your childhood, we're sorry about that.
But in Australia, youcan definitely get these.
How would you describewhat a banana lolly is?

(01:50):
It's like a- It's like a yellow…
It's marshmallow-y, but hard lolly.
It's like a hard marshmallow.
Yeah, like a marshmallow that'sbeen left in the sun or something.
It's hard and crunchy, but it's…
I don't know how you describe it.
Extremely marshmallow-yin the shape of a banana.
Yeah, and it's little and yellow.

(02:12):
It's the banana flavour.
In a mixed bag of lollies.
It's the one that youwould hope you would get.
It doesn't smell like actual bananas.
Not real bananas, but itsmells like banana lollies.
But this smells like banana lollies.
But banana lollies don'treally smell like bananas.
Are you getting any bourbon notes at all?
No, it is literally, I just open a packetof banana lollies in my face
I'm going to, for the purpose of theintellectual exercise, I'm

(02:34):
trying to get something else.
Can I try?
Swirl a little and tryand get something else.
I am getting a little bit of vanilla.
Are you getting anything?
That might be-I could stretch andsay-I mean, it's confectionary.
You're also gettingthose strawberry creams.
But if you did a blind tasting with peoplewho had no idea what the heck was in any

(02:57):
of the glasses, and one of them was asultana-You could have one with banana
lollies in it and put this in the one nextto it, and they'd both smell the same.
I wonder if they wouldsmell exactly the same.
Well, this one's...
You're getting to methodologies, likesome alcohol flavour, like some heat.
But the reason I love this oneis it's really all about the fun.
It literally smells like banana lollies.

(03:18):
It's pretty unashamed, isn't it?
The whole howl ahead thing.
Well, they're not trying to besophisticated.
They're just like, Let's have fun.
Let's have fun and make bourbon thatsmells But does it taste like, Dave?
Tell us what it tastes like.All right.
Go on.
When you pop it in yourmouth, what happens?
It smells like banana lollies, but does ittaste like banana lollies
as much as it smells?

(03:39):
Because sometimes it's different.
It's rough as guts, in my view.
As you can see it, it's not like…I think…
It does taste like banana lollies.
If I'm being really fair, if someone saidto me, Would you like a Sam Buker shot?
A tequila shot?
I don't know, a slippery nipple, orall the different shots you can have.

(04:02):
Or would you like a Halleah head?
I'd go Halleah head.
I think I would like this.
I think not enough people know thatthis is an option that you can have.
I imagine it's a lot of fun in differentcocktails because of the
banana lolly flavour.
You put it in some tropical.
Maybe I should try itwith a tropical slushy.
It's like we had a local brewery whodid a beer that was-The killa Python.

(04:24):
The killa Python jelly lolly flavour.
The smell of that was amazing because itsmelt like killa Python jelly lollies.
But it didn't taste anything like killaPython jelly lollies, whereas this smells
like banana lollies andtastes like banana lollies.
But you're drinking bourbon.
Do you reckon people who don't likebourbon would like this

(04:44):
more than If they had a particularpenchant for banal lollies, maybe.
Yeah.I mean, some people hate banal lollies.
Can I do- It's like achildhood memory in a…
What?Class.
Yeah, it is a bit like achildhood memory in a class.
Can I do that thing that people probablyhate me doing, but I like doing anyway.
You're going to do it anyway, Dave.
Can I quiz you a bit on what makesthis or doesn't make this a bourbon?

(05:09):
Oh, you try it.
I'm just going to ask you some questions.
I don't know enough aboutexactly how they make it.
All right.
What we do know is we knowthat it's 40%, so 80 proof.
We know that there's a bourbon.
It's on the bottle that says agedKentucky spirit with banana flavour.
Yeah.So why do they call it?

(05:29):
Where Where does itget its classification?
The name actually also says Monkey spirit.
It's not even claiming it's a bourbon.No.
It's not even claiming it's a whiskey.
It's just saying, Aged Kentuckyspirit with banana flavour.
I think they do call it a bourbonon that website, don't they?
Is it just a spirit, Dave?
A handcrafted award-winning, Addieproof Kentucky straight bourbon.

(05:50):
Kentucky straight bourbon.There you go.
Well, it obviously has the recipe of cornand all the things you need to
put into a delicious bourbon.Let's be careful here.
It's not a bourbon.It breaks one of the rules.
What rule does it break?
It's got an extra flavour in it.
You can't add extra stuff into a bourbon.
You get a gold star.
Oh, thanks, Dave.Well done.
Can I have a banana lolly?

(06:11):
No, but you can have a little sip of this,and you're basically having the
same thing, but with alcohol.Cheers.
Well done.
That's good.
All right, good one.
Okay, let's go- Here's a question for you.Okay, go ahead.
It's got absolutely nothing to do withtonight's drink other than it's making me
think about fun, young, andwhen you first go out drinking.

(06:34):
Is it you?The answer is Helen.
No.
When do you reckon you first drankbourbon, like actual bourbon?
Like, actual bourbon, not whiskey orCan it be in an RTD?
Can it be in a premixed can?
Yeah, I'll take that.
But like an actual, legit meetsall the bourbon rules, bourbon.

(07:02):
I reckon it must be before I was 18.
It must be, I reckon I would have had aJim Beam white label or a
Jack Daniels or a…
Maybe even a Maker's Mark.Probably not a Maker's Mark.
I still claim Maker's Mark, I reckon itmust be one of my first ever bourbons.
I reckon it would havebeen after I met you.

(07:23):
I drank a lot of Woodstock, but I don'tknow what Woodstock even is anymore.
I drank the Johnny Walker,and that's not a bourbon.
Yeah, it's a Scotch.
But this is a fun question, actually.
I want to talk to someone who knows a bitmore about the history
of bourbon in Australia.
The history of bourbon in Australia?
Because RTDs, it's fascinating to me.

(07:43):
The more I learn about RTDs in Australia,Australia really invented, not didn't
invent, but reallypioneered what RTDs are.
And I've personally had an experience thatI'm not allowed to talk about, about what
RTDs are in Australiaand how unique they are.
Well, that's not exciting to share.I'm sorry.
I've commercially, there'sa thing that's happened.
There's a thing thatsaid you can't say it.

(08:04):
Yeah, exactly.Stop talking about it.
Sorry.
But there's a thing that makes me awarethat in Australia, RTDs are very
special, interesting, and unique.
This planet is what the RTD is.
Ready to drink is what RTD stands for.
And basically it means it's a spirit and amixer in a can that's
already ready to drink.
And I put it in and it's already whenyou crack it, it goes like a beer does.

(08:26):
But it's carbonated, well,usually carbonated, at least.
And it's got alcohol in itand it's got a mixer in it.
And it's a drink that'sready to drink straight away.
It's like a cocktail in a can.
But it could just be like a vodka tonic ora gin tonic or it could be a
bourbon and Coke, whatever.
But it's ready to drink in a can.
Rtd, that's what that is.

(08:47):
And Australia pioneered it.
And it's actually, I think, probably themain reason why Australia has such a high
ranking in the why,where, one of the biggest.
Well, maybe But one of the biggestdrinkers of bourbon in the world
is because we drink so much.
Because we put it in with mixersand had them in ready to go cans.
I see.Ready to go.

(09:08):
You've changed to RTG.
Ready to go.Rtg.
Anyway, it doesn't matter.Who cares?
But I want to talk to one of the peoplewho knows a lot about this in terms
of the history of what that is.
Well, maybe you could findsomeone and get them on.
I'm going to do it.
Ask them to come on ourpodcast and we'll quiz them.
Yeah, for sure.I'll do it, don't me.
We're going to RTD.
Ready to go.
Wait, can I do at least one more It's abit of a question before

(09:30):
we have to go home?Okay.
It's going to be fun.It's going to be howl ahead fun.
Yes.
This spirit, as far as we know, is theyoungest that we know a bourbon can be.
Oh, yeah.Do you know how old that is?
I'm going to take a wild guess and say twoyears, because most of the ones
I drink are four years and over.

(09:51):
Most of the ones I drink.
Yeah, I think you're right.
Most of the ones that we've sharedare usually older than four years.
Yeah, I'm getting a lot of slide.You're right.
Do I get another start?Two years.
You get another banana lolly.Cheers.
Here's to more...
Are we going to do a lotof cheers in this episode?
I know.Well, it's all about the fun.

(10:12):
Here is to drinkable bananalollies, the alcohol.
Yes.
In what is probably like,people probably don't know this.
If you love banana lollies, if you haveloved them as a child and you don't
mind a bourbon, you freaking love this.
If you love bourbon,I'm This is not really…
What is this?Probably going to offend you.

(10:33):
It's awful in that way, but it'sa lovely-It's easy to drink.
It's a funny dream.It tastes like Banana Lollies.
The thing I like about it the best?What?
It's bourbon.
You have fun.
No, it's not bourbon.
No, it's in the spirit of bourbon.
It's made in Kentucky.
Burbon glance at it at some point.Yes.

(10:54):
But the whole philosophy behinddrinking bourbon and having fun.
Have it how you like it.Exactly.
Cheers.
Listening.
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