Shake Shack's Bourbon Bacon Jam Burger Is Finally Back, For Now

In May 2022, Shake Shack first graced our presence with the decadent Bourbon Bacon Jam Burger — and although the item was taken off menus since, it's now back for a limited time at all U.S. locations (besides airports and stadiums), per the chain's Instagram. Shake Shack partnered with Maker's Mark Bourbon to make the sweet and savory bourbon bacon jam, which is featured in the Bourbon Bacon Jam Burger alongside classic American cheese, ShackSauce, and crispy onions. To take yours to the next level, you can make your burger a double along with avocado and bacon.

According to Shake Shack, the Maker's Mark Kentucky Bourbon featured in the jam is aged for six years and contains vanilla, caramel, and oak flavors, while the "real hardwood applewood" bacon in question is smoked for six hours before it's used as an ingredient. It all comes piled on top of the joint's signature non-GMO potato bun and 100% all-natural Angus beef.

Back when the burger collaboration was first released, Shake Shack said it was attempting to piggyback off an already trending ingredient: bacon jam. As executive chef and VP of culinary innovation John Karangis told InsideHook in 2022, "Bacon jam is really popular and has become somewhat iconic within the industry on burgers or as a condiment at fine-dining steakhouses ... what we wanted to do was incorporate bourbon and bacon and make a jam out of it in a really thoughtful way."

The burger's return to the menu in 2023, therefore, may have been inspired by others. In 2022, Burger King debuted its Maple Whisky BBQ King, a similarly sweet, savory, and boozy sandwich made with cheese, crispy onions, and a maple whiskey sauce. Just the year before, Wendy's launched its own Bourbon Bacon Cheeseburger, complete with American cheese, Applewood smoked bacon, crispy onions, and bourbon bacon sauce. Now, Shake Shack is re-joining the fray with the re-release of the Bourbon Bacon Jam Burger for a limited time.