Whistlepig 6 Year Old Piggyback 100% Rye 70cl

Whistlepig 6 Year Old Piggyback 100% Rye 70cl

WhistlePig is a small-batch distiller, established with the help from the late, great Dave Pickerell – a former master distiller at Maker’s Mark. This rye whisky was distilled and aged initially in Canada, before further aging at WhistlePig farm in Vermont.

The story of Whistlepig rye whiskey stretches all the way back to 2010 when Dave Pickerell and Raj Bhakta joined forces for a new brand. Based in Shoreham, Vermont, it was focused on rye whiskey sourced from the famous (to Canadians, at least) Alberta Distillers Limited Distillery. Prior to its first release, Dave supposedly went on a journey to major distilleries in search of the best rye whiskey in the world. He declared he had found it in Canada, much to the surprise of American enthusiasts.

The story of Whistlepig is rooted in the story of Alberta Distillers Limited in Canada.

Whatever your personal opinion is about Canadian rye whiskey, Alberta Distillers Limited is probably one of the closest – in terms of rules and regulations – to our Straight Rye Whiskey. If you’re unsure what I mean, then let’s start by establishing the fact that the rules that govern rye whiskey are very different between the United States and Canada. One of the main differences is that Canadian rye whisky technically doesn’t have to contain any rye grain at all. It just has to possess the aroma, taste and character of a Canadian/Rye Whisky. This is usually done with flavoring additives.

But Alberta Distillers doesn’t use corn in their mash bill. They openly divulge that their rye whiskies start with a mash of 100% rye grain. 100% rye is notoriously hard to ferment which is why few producers use that much. But Alberta Distillers mastered a way by creating a propriety enzyme derived from Aspergillus fungus to convert the rye starches into sugars. From there, their specialty yeast converts the starches into alcohol.

Once fermentation is complete and distillation is ready to begin, the mash will go to one of two stills. A column or a pot still. But before I go any further, let’s talk about what most people expect from Canadian whiskies. For starters, a light body is particularly desirable to their audience. Think of the Canadian Whiskies you’ve had in your life – probably Seagram’s and Crown Royal, right? Well those are primarily made from grain-neutral spirits (GNS) that are distilled to high proofs (above 190) before being cut with water and aged in a barrel for 3 years (the minimum amount of time a whisky must be aged for in Canadian Whisky).

The high distillation proof strips most of the congeners (which are responsible for flavor) out of the distillate. Barrel aging in used barrels doesn’t add much flavor to the end product which is why few Canadian whiskies are aged longer than 3 years. This is where the flavor additives comes into play. You’ve seen it all over the stores, but brands like Seagrams and Crown Royal have so many variations of flavored whiskies because they have to put something in it – or else it wouldn’t taste like anything. Alberta Distillers Limited does produce a GNS whisky like this. However, it’s meant primarily as a blending component. These stocks are commonly referred to as base whiskies.

But the type we’re going to focus on regarding Whistlepig are the flavoring whiskies (not to be confused with flavored whiskies). These are similar to the rye whiskies that we make in the United States.

Alberta Distillers makes two kinds of flavoring whiskies on giant pot stills. Both are distilled to around 160 proof and both are barreled at around 128 proof – but one is put into new charred oak barrels and the other version is put into once-or-twice-used bourbon barrels.

Tasting Notes

50% ABV

70cl