[2] The song was initially released independently before Ross signed with The Core Entertainment and Universal Music Canada, who took over promotion of the single.

That night, he and co-writer Mason Thornley elected to write a new song with their newfound time and decided to pursue the title "First Taste of Gone", which they had attempted to use earlier that year.

'"[7] On social media platform TikTok, he revealed that the song was inspired by a girl he was previously with, and the moment he realized she was not coming back.

[9] Erica Zisman of CountrySwag favourably reviewed "First Taste of Gone", calling it a "heartbreaker" that "depicts the feelings we all go through when we finally get to the point, where a relationship is truly over".

[10] Jenna Weishar of Front Porch Music stated that the track "captures the heartbreak element", positively noting that it could have taken a bigger instrumental angle, but instead, "the broken down simplicity of the piano and raw vocal just drives the story so thoughtfully".