Courage
It takes courage to go whole hog. WhistlePig entered the marketplace with a 10-year old rye whiskey. When we launched the brand, the rye whiskey category was all but dead. Whatever rye was in the market wasn’t luxury, high-proof whiskey, pure and well-aged. Bourbon (corn whiskey) is easy. Alcohol comes from sugar. As a grain, corn is essentially a giant sugar cube, which allows it to be harvested and distilled into alcohol with ease. It doesn’t need to age to taste good. It appeals to a wide range of palates. It is federally subsidized and often genetically modified.
Rye, in contrast, is a stubborn grain. It contains the least amount of sugar and requires the most patience. The distillation process is tricky, fickle, and not for the faint of heart. But on the other side of that struggle is incomparable taste and smoothness. There is a reason the best delis use rye, and not cornbread, for a gourmet sandwich. Rye is a bold choice. For those who make that choice, nothing compares to the full-bodied flavor of a well-aged rye. And that makes WhistlePig the best of the best.
Quality
WhistlePig is aged at least 10 years (far more than the 3-6 year norm) and clocks in at 100 proof… KABOOM. The good news: rye is the most flavorful grain for whiskey. The bad news: from a business standpoint, rye takes greater investment because it demands more time to reach its fullest maturity in a whiskey. But given patience, this problem child becomes the robust head of the class.
Character
Our brand is our family, and vice-versa. Things up at the ‘Pig are hands-on and laid back. WhistlePig Farm is extremely diverse, but the rye always takes center stage. As with people, a whiskey with a lot of character often lacks smoothness. And a smooth whiskey all too often lacks character But what you look for in a best friend – an authentic, unapologetic character AND smoothness – makes the best whiskey.
