WhistlePig is largely responsible for making rye whiskey relevant again, thanks in part to its ultra-premium limited releases that rival the world's hottest bourbons with the furor they create and the massively inflated prices they fetch on the secondary market. By far, the most significant of these limited releases is The Boss Hog, an annual single-barrel release from WhistlePig that is wildly different each year but always manages to sell out in a hurry and become a highly sought-after collector's item.
This year marks the tenth iteration of The Boss Hog, and the Vermont-based distillery took some divine inspiration for its new limited liquid: The Boss Hog X: The Commandments. I got my hands on a bottle to find out just how heavenly this new rye tastes.
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What is WhistlePig The Boss Hog?
For the past decade, WhistlePig has released a limited-edition experimental rye as a way to show off its prowess in the space. Each Boss Hog must meet five criteria in order to bear the name on the bottle.
It must be
- single barrel
- bottled at proof
- powerfully complex
- distinctly unique from anything the brand has done before
- "stupendous"
There's certainly some subjective wiggle room on a couple of those criteria, but regardless, these rules set up some strong guardrails for an outstanding bottle of whiskey.
What's special about The Boss Hog X: The Commandments?
For the tenth release in the series, WhistlePig has expanded the five original Boss Hog rules to ten total "Commandments." In addition to the original five guiding principles, The Boss Hog X is also "fearlessly first amongst all whiskeys," "inspired by the unfamiliar," "irreverently inventive," "made for drinking" and it "knows no bounds."
These new rules are admittedly mostly buzzwords, so what is The Boss Hog X in practice? Well, it's a straight rye whiskey with no age statement (but likely quite mature, as it comes from some of WhistlePig's oldest stocks in Canada) from a single barrel that's bottled between 105.3 – 107 proof. It also, like The Boss Hog IX, has seen two unique barrel finishes. The first was in a barrel that held a WhistlePig-created spirit distilled from rye and whey and infused with the ancient resins frankincense and myrrh. The second finish took place in a spent mead barrel. These two Old World finishes play into the Biblical inspiration of "The Commandments," as does the bottle's pewter topper featuring a Moses-like humanoid pig holding stone tablets.
What does The Boss Hog X: The Commandments taste like?
Before tasting my bottle of The Boss Hog X, I had to take some time to admire the presentation. As is always the case with WhistlePig's limited releases, the brand knocked the packaging out of the park for The Commandments, as the bottle comes on a rotating pedestal inside a magnetically sealed box. I'm consistently blown away by WhistlePig's creativity when it comes to presentation, and their design team is wholly deserving of a raise regardless of how much they're already being paid.
Now, onto the liquid inside. The Boss Hog X has a distinctly reddish tone that really stands out, especially compared to the darker and more brown-hued The Boss Hog IX from last year. On the nose, it's surprisingly sweet. I get loads of honey and not much else, no doubt a result of the whiskey's second mead finish. On the palate, there's more honeyed sweetness at the top, along with some dessert-like vanilla, a touch of raspberries and a good dose of WhistlePig's signature (and powerful) rye spice. This is also where the Biblical aromatics come into play, as the backend of the flavor just before swallowing has a sort of exotic, incense note that's definitely unlike anything I've ever tasted in a rye before. The finish is sweet and hot; clean on the tongue but lingering in the throat with a bit of a burn. Maybe it's just a touch of Hellfire from the gleeful blasphemy of the whole endeavor.
Where to buy The Boss Hog X: The Commandments
Like in previous years, The Boss Hog X: The Commandments sold out on WhistlePig's online shop almost immediately after going on sale — despite having a retail price of $600. So if you want to snag a bottle, you can check for local distribution here or pay a premium by buying online from a reseller like the one below.
