WhistlePig has been stuffing our mailbox of late with new releases and particular editions. What began with the masterful new Boss Hog IX has solely continued, with a brand new extension of the PiggyBack line — a bourbon, not rye — a second particular version of PiggyBack Rye, and — saving one of the best for final — a brand new model of WhistlePig Rye that is available in a glass piggybank decanter. PiggyBank, get it?
Immediately we’re delving into all three of those, beginning with the mainstream.
WhistlePig PiggyBack Bourbon 6 Years Previous – This can be a 6 yr previous “tremendous excessive corn” bourbon, made with rye after all, distilled in each Indiana and Vermont. Past that, particulars are scant, however one can assume this can be a mix of MGP bourbon and WhistlePig’s home-distilled rye (with perhaps somewhat additional MGP rye only for kicks, who is aware of). There’s no mistaking the corn-centrism right here, because it punches you within the nostril from the second it’s poured. Massive popcorn and moderated peanut shell notes weigh heavy on a nostril that provides some degree of grassy rye, a minimum of within the background, earlier than a brighter, sweeter honeycomb profile comes into clearer focus. Doughy, nutty, and particularly corny on the palate, the whiskey doesn’t ever come throughout as a comparatively mature six years previous, however a heavy corn part within the mashbill will try this to a bourbon, stretching out its youth significantly. Happily there’s some sweetness and spice right here to maintain issues full of life — Bit-O-Honey paired with cinnamon shavings — then loads of wooden and a definite inexperienced notice weighing down the end. PiggyBack Rye is seemingly on each cocktail menu today as a flexible mixer, and whereas I’d not be stunned to see PiggyBack Bourbon positioned in the identical manner, it’s clear to me that fifty bucks will get you a greater bourbon deal elsewhere on the shelf. 100 proof. B / $50
WhistlePig PiggyBack 100% Rye 6 Years Previous – Brothers Osborne Barrel – That is the second particular version of PiggyBack Rye to hit this yr, following on the actually odd Massive Papi version that hit over the summer season. OK, who’re the Brothers Osborne? Nation music stars. And this, the second in WhistlePig’s PiggyBack Legends Collection, is a single-barrel launch of Vermont-distilled rye aged in casks with high-toast customized barrel heads. Sorry, no smashed guitar fragment ending right here! Anyway… that is really a stable, if unremarkable, instance of what WhistlePig has all the time completed effectively. Grassy however balanced with wooden, cereal, and spice on the nostril, the palate is peppery and racy, pouring on notes of recent grains layered with dried herbs, but it surely’s later refreshed with candy butterscotch and honey tempering the spice. Each spice and sweetness maintain pushing on via the lingering end, which managed to discover a tenuous stability. I’d use this can be a mixing rye any day. 96.56 proof. B+ / $50
WhistlePig PiggyBank Rye 10 Years Previous – How’s this for one thing fully totally different: A particular model of WhistlePig Rye, sourced distillate, bottled on the age of 10 years and 55% abv. Oh, and saved in a glass “piggybank” container that pours whiskey out of its ass. (Maintain the cap on tight, people!) It’s a stellar instance of well-aged rye — certainly Canadian inventory — nosing wealthy and full, not simply with grassy rye spice however with well-integrated tangerine peel, crimson berries, and mulled wine notes within the combine. I saved excited about the upcoming holidays when sipping on this whiskey, notes of cloves and juniper berries melding with dense crimson berries, spiced nuts, candied grapefruit peel, and recent ginger all in a swirl. The legacy of WhistlePig’s authentic blender Dave Pickerell can simply be seen all through the advanced however balanced expertise right here, the end clinging to the cheeks for ages. The glass pig, effectively, that’s simply the icing on the cake. 110 proof. A / $200 (1 liter)
WhistlePig PiggyBank Rye 10 Years Previous
$200
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