Vermont-based whiskey maker WhistlePig has unveiled The Boss Hog XI: The Juggernaut, created from aging rye whiskey in custom-made thandai barrels
WhistlePig is drawing upon inspiration from a trip to India for the Boss Hog XI: The Juggernaut. The latest edition in the Vermont-based brand’s annual series finds the distillery aging its rye whiskey in custom-made thandai barrels with a variety of aromatic ingredients, including saffron and cardamom.
During a recent trip to India, the makers of WhistlePig The Boss Hog XI: The Juggernaut experienced thandai, an aromatic drink made from nuts and spices during the Holi festival in Jaipur. The brand utilized ingredients found in Delhi’s Khari Baoli spice market to create whiskey barrels that would impact the expression’s flavor. The release takes the brand’s most mature straight rye and finishes it in barrels seasoned with aged rye whiskey, saffron, cinnamon, cardamom, nutmeg, fennel, poppy, and black peppercorn.
“Every year we challenge ourselves to craft a rye that is more stupendous, inspired, and intricate than each edition of The Boss Hog before it,” says blender Meghan Ireland. “After expanding our original five promises for The Boss Hog to 10 tenants last year, we set out on our biggest challenge yet. When we discovered thandai in India, we knew we had to find a way to translate its spice profile to a showstopping whiskey barrel for this precious rye.”
On the nose, the whiskey offers traditional Indian spices, rye allspice, clove, and black pepper. The palate delivers overripe orchard fruit, cardamom, saffron, and fennel. The finish brings waves of baking spice, soft sweetness, and tropical fruit.
Bottled between 51.9% ABV and 52.6% ABV, WhistlePig The Boss Hog XI: The Juggernaut carries a suggested retail price of $600 and is available across the U.S. For more information, head over to the brand’s official website.
Previous editions of The Boss Hog have included LapuLapu’s Pacific (a rye whiskey aged for nearly 18 years in new American Oak, followed by a double finish in high toast barrels that previously held small batch, single island, aged Philippine rum) and Magellan’s Atlantic (a straight Rye Whiskey aged for 17 years in American Oak, then finished in rare Spanish oak, followed by a second finish in South American teak wood casks).
Back in May, WhistlePig partnered with Solo Stove to launch a wheat whiskey finished in Solo Stove Toasted Barrels, CampStock Wheat Whiskey.
