Crafting Rye Whiskey with WhistlePig

Launched in 2010, WhistlePig Whiskey in Shoreham, Vermont, has been one of the most influential brands raising the profile of American rye whiskey. Despite sourcing much of the whiskey for its flagships, WhistlePig operates an R&D distillery on a 500-acre farm where it grows its own rye, wheat, and barley, processes sap into maple syrup bound for whiskey barrels, and trials a wide range of finishing casks and blends.

In this 67-minute course, whiskey development director Liz Rhoades and R&D distiller Mitch Mahan walk us through their growing, testing, distilling, aging, and finishing. Among other points, they explain how the climate can affect the grains as well as the barrel-aging, influencing their choice of casks, as well as how different finishing casks affect the character of their blends—and much more.