American Whiskey Review #91: WhistlePig The Boss Hog VII Magellan’s Atlantic 17 Year

Distillery: ?

Bottler: WhistlePig

Region: ?

Age: 17 Year.

Barrel Number: #78

ABV: 53.10%. Cask Strength.

Cask Type: 17 years in American oak casks, then three weeks in Spanish oak casks and finally three days in Brazillian teakwood casks.

Price: Sample courtesy of /u/I_SAID_NO_GOLDFISH.

Color: 1.4, Tawny.

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Nose: (according to the wife) It smells like a medicinal drink. There’s cherry flavored cough syrup and a bunch of banking spices with allspice, nutmeg, and clove being the main ones.

Palate: The first thing you taste is an explosion of baking spices. There’s nutmeg and clove for days. That’s followed up by a rather boozey maple syrup. Towards the end, there’s a funky and weird flavor that I can’t quite place. It’s almost medicinal and the closest thing that comes to mind is eucalyptus.

Finish: Fairly long. I might believe you if you told me it was finished in port casks. There’s a slightly tangy note that reminds me heavily of balsamic vinegar. Raisins and tons of those baking spices also pop in.

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Conclusion: This is the second Boss Hog I’ve had the pleasure to try and while I heavily appreciate WhistlePig’s dedication to making something new and innovative, I’m not sure they’ve succeeded here. It starts off as one that rye lovers will adore. There’s baking spices galore which are tempered nicely by some sweeter notes of maple syrup. Then towards the end, it gets a bit funky and disjointed. These nearly-medicinal notes pop in and don’t seem to quite fit in. I’m not sure whether it comes from one of the short finishes or from the original maturation but I’m left thinking this missed the mark ever so slightly. It’s not bad at all, just a bit disjointed.

Final Score: 82.

American Whiskey Review #91, Rye Review #14, Whisky Network Review #392

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Scoring Legend:

• 96-100: The perfect dram, nectar of the gods.
• 90-95: Near perfect, there is something truly special about this whisky.
• 85-89: Amazing, will always try to keep a bottle of this in my collection (if feasible).
• 80-84: Very Good, maybe only one minor nitpick about the whisky keeping it here.
• 75-79: Good, quite enjoyable to drink.
• 70-74: Solid, wouldn’t go out of my way to get it.
• 60-69: Meh, still drinkable.
• Below 59: If you have a bottle of this, start cooking with it instead.