I had a pour of this one sent to me by a new friend out of the Boston area. I’ve heard good things about Whistlepig and I know the prices of their bottles have skyrocketed recently, so I was glad to get the opportunity to try this heavy rye whiskey. It’s a shiny, new penny copper in the highball glass and doesn’t form any legs when you give it a nice swirl- just some tiny beads at the top of the oily slick once the liquid settles back down. That’s a good sign. Now, anyone that knows me knows that I don’t really like American whiskey, in general, and especially rye. It takes a softer rye spice profile to win my approval, so please don’t take my overall score as an influencer over your purchase thoughts- especially if you love high rye juice. That said, let’s delve into this one... The nose started out very perfume-y for me with some very strong, yet clean oak pepper and spice. Faint rye bread swirls around the glass along with some nice florals. The first thing I noticed with the palate is how incredibly smooth it is- like buttah! Scary smooth with a delicate mouthfeel. I never thought I’d say that about a rye, but man it’s luscious. More rye bread and pepper with just a hint of dill spice here. Mid sip even feels more oily and tongue coating, which lead to a longer finish than I expected. A lingering, warm pepper hangs around until long after you wash away the sip. I think the thing I like the most is that this is a non-challenging rye. I can see where serious rye drinkers would bash this one for being too gentle, but the 15 year aging really calms what probably should’ve been a beast. I think I heard that bottles of this are going crazy on the secondary market, so I doubt I’d chase a full one- but every single time I got offered a pour I’d gladly accept and do my best Tiny Tim impression “please sir, can I have some more?” Good stuff. A big, hearty thank you to my Boston connection for this (he wishes to remain anonymous, but he will certainly read this). Daddy like. Daddy like, a lot. 4.5 stars. Cheers.