Shortly before Christmas 2005, I was wandering around the drinks aisles of my local Tesco with the wonderfully vague remit of buying “some alcohol” for imbibing over the impending holidays. Having already seized the obligatory seasonal bottle of De Kupyer cherry brandy, I was moving in the general direction of the rum section when my eyes fell open something strange and new. They were bottles of Baileys Irish Cream, but oddly some had brown labels and caps, whilst others were green. Moving in for a closer inspection, I saw that the lovely people at Baileys had produced some limited edition twists on their classic Irish whiskey cream liqueur: the brown labelled bottles were Baileys with a hint of crème caramel, whilst the green had a hint of mint chocolate. I had always been quite fond of Baileys – and exceedingly fond of both crème caramel and mint chocolate – so I needed little persuasion to sample one of these bottles. On a whim I went for the mint chocolate version.

The original Baileys Irish Cream liqueur has been around since 1974, and is a blend of “fresh dairy cream, Irish whiskey, and the finest Irish spirits”. At first glance I will happily admit that this doesn’t sound particularly appetising (especially as I don’t even like whiskey), but the result of this unholy marriage of ingredients is a rich, smooth and creamy drink where the dairy neatly balances the alcohol in taste, while the alcohol keeps the dairy fresh for up to 24 months from the point of manufacture (not that it lasts 24 months in my house, you understand). Baileys is actually 50% cream and has a horribly high fat content of 15%, but fortunately the sheer richness of it means that even the most hardened drinker will find it sickly by the end of their second measure and so will not be able to drink much of it (just as well at a generous 82 calories per 25ml serving, really). Since launch, Baileys has become the world’s best selling Irish cream drink (indeed, the best selling cream liqueur of any variety), so clearly there was potential to experiment with new varieties of Baileys. The long Baileys cocktail Glide may have bombed, but the “hint of” range looks set for greater success, not least because they are akin to already popular Baileys cocktails such as Irish Mint (original Baileys mixed with Crème de Menthe), After Eight (original Baileys, white Crème de Menthe and Kahlua) and Butterfinger (original Baileys with milk and butterscotch schnapps).

The drink is not strong in chocolate flavourings or excessively minty, but there is a lovely subtle aftertaste of After Eight mints. The chocolate flavourings complement the texture and creaminess of the Baileys nicely, while the mint takes the edge of the sickliness to produce something fresher and slightly more satisfying than the original Irish cream. The mint is slightly more pronounced than the chocolate (and I would personally prefer the chocolate flavourings to be a wee bit stronger), but this drink is certainly a winner with me, especially on cold winter evenings. I would happily recommend it to lovers of Baileys and mint chocolates everywhere now that it is fully available rather than an elusive limited edition. It will set you back around £9 for a 700ml bottle, and is best served over ice in my opinion, although you can also try it straight, in coffee or hot chocolate, with milk, over ice cream, or to give a Baileys cocktail a minty twist: