WhistlePig Rye Single Barrel Review

Like many non-distiller whiskey producers, there’s a mixed bag of support for WhistlePig. I’m not going to go into the laundry list of reasons why some people dislike the company (and I share a lot of their sentiment) but it’s hard to deny that they put out very good sourced products. The 2013 release of Boss Hog is one of my favorite rye whiskeys - albeit a bit brash, it was an incredibly bold and spicy proof bomb. The problem though is that it carried a hefty price tag and even worse, successive annual releases of that product have crept up to around the $200 price point. I thought it was a tough sell at the $160 I paid for the older version and I certainly wasn’t interested in the same product at an even higher price. So that’s why I was greatly intrigued when I started noticing cask strength single barrel versions of the standard WhistlePig rye popping at nearby stores. While they may not be as old as Boss Hog, the proof is up there and even better most were priced nearly the same as standard WhistlePig rye. With the enticing price point, I ended up picking up 3 different single barrels over the last year. I’ve slowly worked on them in that time and found that they more or less tasted the same so I combined all my notes into one review.

Just a little refresher on WhistlePig Rye - the current non Old World iterations are a 100% rye sourced from Alberta Distillers in Canada. WhistlePig imports aged rye whiskey from them and then does additional aging at their farm in Vermont with part of that aging being in re-used bourbon barrels.

• On the left: Aged 10 years; Selected by Midtown Cork Dorks (Nashville, TN); 60% ABV; $75
• On the right: Aged 10 years; Selected by Liquor Barn (Bowling Green, KY); 57.45% ABV; $90
• A third bottle pictured here: Aged 10 years; Selected by Brinkmann’s W&S (Franklin, TN); 58.05 ABV%; $80

Nose: A lot of wood depth with some sweet tobacco and liquorice anise spice. There is a good amount of vanilla and caramel sweets as well despite the heavy woody notes. They breath pretty tame and aren’t overly hot despite the high-ish proof.

Taste: Sweet wood syrup with prickly mint, menthol, and anise spice. There is a noticeable dill presence but it’s not quite as heavy as what you would usually find in a cask strength MGP rye. Incredibly rich across the board in wood, sweet, and spice.

Thoughts: Really great stuff. Not quite as good as the older releases of Boss Hog but these are close. Like most things over 100 proof I drink these days, I find they greatly benefited from air time in the bottle. Initially I found them a touch hot and out of balance but now that they are nearly empty they are an intense blast of sweet, spice, and wood without as much heat. I’m really impressed by the consistency across all three bottles and I honestly can’t find any faults. It’s just damn good whiskey.

Rating: A-

Value: As always, I don’t factor price into my ratings. With the demise of Smooth Ambler’s cask strength single barrel rye program, there just aren’t many options out there for 8+ year old cask strength rye whiskey that is readily available. Given that and the consistent quality I’ve observed, I consider these a great buy at around the $75 price point.