Peg Leg Porker is a local Nashville BBQ restaurant run by Carey Bringle who lost a leg to bone cancer hence the name. Before I get into the whiskey let me say that Peg Leg is one of my favorite BBQ places in Nashville and if you are ever in town, you should go there. They specialize in pork and will be the first to tell you if you want brisket, go to Texas. Carey is a bit of a character and in my discussions with him seems like a really fun/nice guy.
From what I recall, the Peg Leg whiskey brand started about 3-4 years ago as a no age statement product but since then has launched an 8 year and just recently a limited edition 12 year. The process for the last two products has been the same - it's a sourced Tennessee straight bourbon whiskey that is filtered through hickory charcoal before bottling. Most whiskey nerds know there is pretty much one major Tennessee distillery selling bulk whiskey and that's George Dickel. Dickel whiskey has an odd profile that wears on some due to a weird multivitamin mineral note that is very present in their products but personally I've come to terms with it. For the record, I have no factual evidence that the source here is Dickel other than my own experience tasting their products. When Peg Leg whiskey was first launched I asked Carey where it was sourced and he told me he signed an NDA that prevented him from revealing the details.
Peg Leg Porker Tennessee Straight Bourbon
Aged 8 years; 45% ABV; $47
Nose: Corn forward and slight rye spice. Yep, smells like a Dickel whiskey though the vitamin funk is toned down.
Taste: Sweet vanilla, heavy corn, a little bit of rye spice. Slight vitamin mineral note, again more toned down than in regular Dickel products. The finish has quite a bit of smokey wood char, I assume that's the hickory charcoal finishing.
Thoughts: Surprisingly, this doesn't have a lot of those weirdo multivitamin flavors but it also doesn't have a lot of depth and lends towards the sweet and smokey side of things. All in all, it tastes like a muted Dickel whiskey as it's a bit dull and boring. It's fine for daily sipping but at the price point, a 9 year Dickel single barrel select coming in at 103 proof is a better value with more body. If anything I think the filtering has worked against this one unless you want something ultra smoooooooooth.
Rating: C-
Peg Leg Porker Tennessee Straight Bourbon
Aged 12 years; 46.95% ABV; Batch 1; $87
Nose: Much more wood influence than the 8 year but also a ton more hickory smoke notes. Underneath all those smokey notes is some slight rye spice and burnt grilled corn. I can smell traces of multivitamin funk.
Taste: Some sweet wood notes up front that combine with some dark smokey notes in the finish. There are a lot of viscous oily smoke notes that remind me of Balcones Brimstone Texas oak scrubbed corn whiskey. The finish lasts forever but again it's mostly all thick oily smoke resin.
Thoughts: I'm not feeling this at all. It's a bit of a mess and kind of tastes like a George Dickel barn burned to the ground. There are some redeeming qualities in that it has a pretty good amount of sweet and wood depth along with vitamin funk notes that while present are toned down. In this price range though you are competing with Barrell Tennessee sourced bourbons and I'd take any of those over this.
Rating: D+
Note that price is not considered when assigning a rating.
Ha! I thought you were a hater until I tasted it. D+ is generous. I can taste the Dent #2 from a mile away. Talk about unbalanced and bitter. I bet you they had no idea what do with this 12yr overaged and were hoping some random *foobar charcoal* filtering would make consumers salivate. Keep on scraping off the pretense. Keep it real.
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