WhistlePig 6 Year PiggyBack Bourbon

Very light for 100 proof but a nice sweet finish. I enjoyed it!

PiggyBack 6YR Bourbon: Tasted Neat in Glancairn 12/02/22 (rested 15 minutes) *NOSE: Very Corn Forward. Dry Cornbread, Oak Spice, Raw Almond, Cherry Pit, and perhaps a Hint of Sweet in the form of Cake Donut with Powdered Sugar. A Little Alcohol Sting, but not enough to matter. *NEAT: Decent Coating Mouthfeel. Spicier than I remember from my first tasting. Barrel Spice, Black Pepper, and Eucalyptus. Sweetness in the form of Light Butterscotch and Vanilla. At the Edges, Oak Char and Mild Tannins hang out. Finishes Medium to Long with a nice Blooming Heat in the chest, leaving behind a palate coating mix of Oak, Musty Dried Corn, and Eucalyptus. *Splash: A Little Water bring Cedar to the Nose and Palate. Definitely turn up the sweetness with Cherry Vanilla Syrup sweetness. Easily adds a full quarter point to my rating. *VERDICT: The PiggyBack 6YR Rye is one of my favorites out there so I was anxious to see their take on a Bourbon. So eager, in fact, that instead of waiting for it to hit shelves here in NC I took advantage of the fact that you can buy direct from their website with free shipping. I don't know if the first tasting just hit me on a bad palate night or if time open has really improved it, but either way, this was going to get a bad review. I'm glad I waited, as this has really developed into a tasty whiskey. Where the first taste was all Young Corn, subsequent tries have all been very good. Even better after a few drops of water. It's dinged a little by the $50 price tag (they claim this was blended to be a mixer, but that's too much money to mix very often) but is still a solid 4 Star Pour.

Nose: dominated by char and oak, with potent notes of pear, rye, flowers and pineapple, and more subtly dark chocolate, burnt caramel and figs. On the palate lots of oak and char, pear, apple, rye, cherry and a hint of vanilla. Spicy finish. Vibrant and full of flavor. And exceedingly smooth.

Initially I was not impressed with the first pour, but after letting it breathe a bit it was very good, it is almost straight corn so you won't really find any rye notes but a rather simple and sweet bourbon.