There’s no extra thrilling time in whiskeydom than when WhistlePig drops its newest Boss Hog. Now in its tenth installment, the aggressively experimental whiskey collection takes a brand new step into craziness, ending its rye whiskey with really Biblical flavors.
There’s actually no different possibility than to let WhistlePig clarify The Commandments to you:
A testomony to WhistlePig’s devotion to creating, breaking and rewriting the legal guidelines of whiskey, WhistlePig expands the unique 5 guarantees of The Boss Hog to the X Commandments for this and all future editions of the extremely coveted assortment: I. Single Barrel, II. Bottled at Proof, III. Powerfully Complicated, IV. Distinctly Distinctive From Something We’ve Accomplished Earlier than, V. Stupendous, VI. Fearlessly First Amongst All Whiskeys, VII. Impressed by the Unfamiliar, VIII. Irreverently ingenious, IX. Made for Consuming, X. Is aware of No Bounds. The Commandments are emblazoned inside The Boss Hog X reward field, and every bottle is topped by the lawmaker and rule breaker of Rye Whiskey within the type of a home made pewter topper.
Reaching for the Rye promised land, The Boss Hog X: The Commandments captures flavors impressed by WhistlePig’s personal land of milk and honey in Vermont. Every barrel of Straight Rye Whiskey is aged in new American Oak earlier than finishing its journey in two unorthodox ending barrels.
The primary is seasoned with WhistlePig’s personal experimental spirit – distilled from rye and whey, infused with fragrant resins from the genera Boswellia and Commiphora — generally often known as Frankincense and Myrrh. The second and last end is getting old in craft mead casks.
So there you go: Milk (whey) and honey (mead). Frankincense and Myrrh. Hey, we get it! There’s no gold right here — the bottle stopper is pewter — however principally it’s acquired all the things else wanted for a younger savior to seek out his method on the earth.
I used to be excited to get an opportunity to attempt it, and I’ve some ideas.
On the nostril, this was much less shocking than I anticipated it will be, that includes iconic rye spice notes, allspice, cloves, and pepper, ringed with a savory, virtually charred edge. Sweetness lies beneath, but it surely’s by no means clear what lies in retailer. Hints of honey, later creating into an apple cider notice, turn into extra insistent with slightly air time.
The palate is the place issues blow up. This whiskey, like many a Boss Hog earlier than it, has been twisted and turned 1,000,000 other ways, and whereas purists might really feel the manipulation is an excessive amount of, they’re actually lacking out. Daring honey notes initially dominate — mead just isn’t a delicate taste, in spite of everything — and the whiskey could also be overly candy for some. It takes some endurance and exploration for the natural — er, “fragrant resin” — notes to turn into clearer, with time revealing notes of blackberries, rosemary, and a shocking slug of bittersweet chocolate. With time: barely smoky incense. Frankincense, I suppose, wafting into your nostrils.
Intense and immersive, it’s attractive at bottle proof however a splash of water helps mood the sweetness a bit, evoking notes of candy tea and serving to the extra aromatic, incense-heavy qualities of the whiskey to point out themselves. On the fade-out, there’s a vaguely Center Jap spice bazaar notice — an fragrant punch that melds effectively with all that’s come earlier than.
As with final yr’s Siren’s Tune bottling, there’s nothing to not like right here, however the expertise has completely nothing in frequent with any rye you’ve had earlier than. I adore it. However if you happen to mentioned you hated it, I’d completely get that.
Oh – and the wood field it is available in is tons of enjoyable too, that includes a revolving door which reveals your prize ready inside. I’d by no means advocating displaying off a whiskey bottle with out sharing it with mates, however if you happen to’re of that mindset, this would possibly do the trick.
106.4 proof as reviewed (bottles fluctuate from 105.3 to 107 relying on barrel). Reviewed: Barrel #14.
A / $600 / whistlepigwhiskey.com
WhistlePig “The Boss Hog X: The Commandments” Rye Whiskey 2023
$600
