There's a bizarre "popularity" around here for "cinnamon flavored" things.
The trouble is, that none of it tastes ANYTHING like cinnamon, to me. -I quite like cinnamon, but I cannot abide the disgusting taste of these "cinnamon" flavored candies, and "cinnamon" scented brooms (Holy crap... what IS it with these "cinnamon brooms" that appear in all of the supermarkets around here when fall/autumn comes around?). -Those brooms offend my nose from a distance of about a hundred feet; quite enough to cause me to AVOID stores which stock large numbers of them.
I wouldn't mind, but to me it doesn't even smell OR taste a damn thing like cinnamon, but people seem to lap it up as if they can't tell the difference, or are prepared to accept the difference... -Perhaps it's one of those things -like cilantro- where some people have the ability to detect something which they perceive as foul, where others don't, and I'm one of the few cursed with the gene to be repulsed?
Which brings me to another pet peeve (oh bugger... you've got me started!). -Apple pie.
Apple pie -when done well- is an utter joy. I've tasted more bad ones than good over the years; bad texture pastry (frequently soggy on the inside), frequently under (or-over) sugared, but the most common sin I encounter since moving to the US is sousing the filling with cinnamon. -Again let me say I like cinnamon, and I do appreciate a hint of cinnamon in an apple pie, but just about every pie I've had over here tastes primarily of -in order- 1) cinnamon, 2) sugar, and -finally- 3) apple. -It's a very poor stat... and that's before we even get to challenges such as the TEXTURE of the apple after baking. -Why not be honest and call them "sweet cinnamon pies with a faint hint of apple"?. -And when some low-cost mass-market versions are made with 'artificial cinnamon flavor', the result is simply heinous, there's no other word.
Grrrrr... how did I get onto this? -Oh yes.... Cinnamon whiskey.
I've never tasted the stuff, though I've seen it -legitimately- for sale. -However, I'm almost certain that it contains no cinnamon, and likely no cinnamon derivatives. -I bet it's that foul "cinnamon flavor" added to so-so whiskey. The idea repulses me... Although, if I do encounter any illegitimate stuff (I don't really move in the kind of circles where I'm likely to) I'll certainly report it.