Masters of Wood

While rye grain imparts unmatched character to our liquid, much of any whiskey’s flavor comes from time spent in wood. When whiskey is fresh off the still, it is moonshine: clear, colorless, and with little to no odor or flavor, with such odor and flavor as it possesses being of questionable merit. Whiskey’s power and subtlety is born of the cycle of the seasons, nurtured in charred oak barrels. The barrels are stored in warehouses that are open to the elements, and therefore subject to frigid winters followed by humid, temperate summers. The wood grain contracts in the cold, and expands in the heat, allowing the whiskey to mellow against the char in the winter, or penetrate the wood to absorb spice and caramel in the warmer months.  At WhistlePig, our whiskey enjoys at least ten years of this cycle.  Like the rings on a tree, the distillate’s penetration of the wood can be seen in a stave cut into cross section.  We use only pristine New American Oak, or early use bourbon barrels, to give our whiskey its unmatched flavor. Our superior rye distillate – no light, sweet liquid – is strong enough to match the power of wood, and hang on to the nuances of its heads and tails, to create the the finest, most distinct rye whiskey in the world.