Whistlepig’s Newest Whiskey Was Trialed in a Formula 1 Wind Tunnel

Jonah Flicker
·2 min read

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Jack Daniel’s announced its new partnership with Formula 1 racing team McLaren last spring, and now another whiskey distillery has entered the paddock. WhistlePig has a brand-new collaboration with the Alfa Romeo F1 team called PiggyBack Legends Series: Alfa Romeo F1 Team Stake Barrel. We have the details of this new rye whiskey, which was actually subjected to G forces while still inside a cask.

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This new whiskey is not a straight rye—rather, it is a single-barrel, 100-percent rye (presumably sourced) that was flavored with lychee and oolong tea in a nod to the first Chinese F1 racer, Zhou Guanyu. It was bottled at exactly 96.77 proof, which the brand says is a nod to Finnish Alfa Romeo team member Valtteri Bottas’ racing number, 77. According to a press release, some barrels were subjected to G forces at the team’s wind tunnel in Switzerland and also back at the WhistlePig farm and distillery in Vermont in order to increase the interaction between wood and whiskey (along the lines of Metallica’s Blackened Whiskey’s sonic enhancement). “Our experiments with dynamic aging went full throttle during finishing trials at the Alfa Romeo F1 Team Stake wind tunnel, in turn inspiring new ways to expose barrels to G-forces back at the WhistlePig Farm,” said head blender Meghan Ireland in a statement. “The herbal and floral notes of the lychee and tea barrel selected with the team create a new, podium-topping experience for PiggyBack Rye.”


There’s an immediate fruitiness to this whiskey on the nose, as the lychee notes pop upon first whiff. That follows through on the palate, along with some herbal notes from the tea and classic rye whiskey flavors of vanilla, black pepper, raisin, and orange peel. There are definitely some flavored whiskey vibes going on here, but it stops well short of entering the territory of something like Jim Beam Apple. Yes, this is kind of a gimmicky whiskey and will not appeal to everyone, but WhistlePig has certainly had some interesting collaborations as of late with brands like Traeger and Pit Viper, as well as experimenting with many different types of cask finishes in the high-end Boss Hog series.


You can order the new Alfa Romeo F1 Team Stake Barrel directly from the WhistlePig website starting today (SRP $50), and you can find the rest of the lineup available to purchase from websites like ReserveBar now if you’re looking for some straight rye.

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