Regauged into once-used bourbon barrels, this is not the WhistlePig of old. Four years’ finishing in Vermont has toned down the sweetness and high notes, emphasizing a complex, leather/dark chocolate/tobacco spectrum instead. Lavender, violets, and ripe red fruit rise over dusty-dry barn boards, blue clay, and dark rye bread. The spicy rye tones glow with white pepper, while hints of astringent barrel oak keep a slight slipperiness from clinging.

Reviewed by: Davin de Kergommeaux (Summer 2014)