WHISTLEPIG PIGGYBACK 100% RYE
Single Barrel #5429 selected by Randall’s Wines & Spirits (2022)MASH BILL – 100% rye
PROOF – 105.2
AGE – 6 years
DISTILLERY – WhistlePig Whiskey
PRICE – $67 (includes shipping)
WORTH BUYING? – Out of curiosity, yes
Tasted in The Year of No Buying (The what? 🔗 here.)
I have a longstanding fondness for the WhistlePig 10 Year Rye releases, especially the store picks bottled at cask strength, and sometimes aged well beyond their stated 10 years. These whiskeys are distilled in Canada, then aged by WhistlePig in Vermont using barrels crafted from Vermont oak. They always offer an elegant yet robust combination of sweet caramel, comforting spice, and delicate dill.
With WhistlePig’s current PiggyBack line, if one reads the fine print on the various standard and single barrel releases, WhistlePig seems to be drawing on a few sources, including themselves—perhaps. This particular bottling could be their own rye distillate, though the label’s phrasing leaves room for ambiguity:
Distilled in Vermont by WhistlePig? Or just bottled by them, in New York, and distilled in Vermont by…?
Either way, I actually didn’t know this was distilled in Vermont when I purchased it online, and didn’t even think to check when I received it. But when I uncorked it, the taste was immediately distinct from the 10 Year. It was clearly not just the younger age that made it taste so different. Terroir and origin make this PiggyBack SiB a whole other WhistlePig rye experience than what I’ve been familiar with up until now.
So let’s dive right into a glass. Here we are, just over five weeks after uncorking and a handful of pours into the bottle. These brief notes were taken using a Canadian Glencairn.
COLOR – dingy honey ambers with brassy highlights
NOSE – sharply sweet cedar syrup, something metallic like thin polished brass, bright rye grasses, a dusting of finely ground black pepper, apricot liqueur, fresh lemons, a light caramel drizzle on fluffy angel food cake
TASTE – true to the nose but turning a notch darker and richer, emphasizing the candy and fruit notes like a syrup drenching the herbal and spice notes
FINISH – silky caramel, a sunny earthy note, dried rye grasses and spices, lingering gently but long and with a nice glowing warmth, leaving the metallic note lingering subtly along an edge of oak tannin
OVERALL – Fascinating, pleasing, and bothersome, and very Canadian for not being Canadian
This is a very interesting, mixed experience. That syrupy cedar note takes the lead throughout, and dovetails with the subtler metallic and tannic notes. It pulls at me, yet is not entirely to my liking. It reminds me of certain Wyoming Whiskey experiences in that regard, as well as some McKenzie bourbons and ryes and a 30 Year North British Single Grain Whisky—quite a range, and all whiskeys I’ve struggled with due to their mix of appealing sweet and off-putting astringent qualities.
Tasted blind I’d have guessed this rye to be either a Canadian rye or something out of Finger Lakes Distillery in New York, which produces the McKenzie whiskeys. Vermont is more northern than New York, and a hop less so than Canada. But perhaps the climate is similar enough to produce these edgy cedar aspects that seem to run through whiskeys from these regions.
What I do very much enjoy is the syrupy quality. It’s very clingy and mouth-coating, and helps pull forward the caramel and fruit notes. At various angles in the light, the color takes on a grungy complexity, like a raging dust storm streaked with sunlight. This somehow captures those aspects of the flavor profile that give the whiskey its edge—the metal, tannins, black pepper, and the drier herbal aspects.
I would guess diehard Canadian rye fans will enjoy this thoroughly. Fans of the Barrell Seagrass release might also dig it. The proof is just high enough at 105.2 to add oomph without setting things on fire, making it flexible for neat sipping and mixing. I don’t guess I’ll be reaching for it often. But I certainly will when I want to reflect on colder climes. And it’s destined to find its way into some hybrid Tiki or Sour cocktail.
Cheers!
The Right Spirit 