- WhistlePig is introducing a $5,000, 30-year aged whiskey. Only four barrels of The BigShǝBàng exist. The release follows last year’s unveiling of The Badönkådonk, a whiskey aged for 25 years.
Americans might be drinking less alcohol than they have in the past 86 years, but that’s not slowing down the collector’s market for especially rare spirits.
WhistlePig plans to test that demand, unveiling a new, very limited-edition offering on Wednesday called The BigShǝBàng, a single-malt that’s been aged for 30 years in American Oak, then finished in Vin Santo barrels—a labor-intensive Italian dessert wine that has been called a “holy wine.”
Only four barrels of the whiskey exist, which helps to explain the $5,000 per bottle price tag on The BigShǝBàng.
“We didn’t wait for our Single Malt’s 30th birthday just to play it safe. The BigShǝBàng is a flavor supernova – radiant, otherworldly, and unlike anything we’ve ever put in a bottle,” said Meghan Ireland, head blender at WhistlePig. “We’ve been hunting down Vin Santo barrels for a few years now, and the stars finally aligned with a precious few to finish this inaugural release. As with many of our most elusive casks, they’ve proved to be a catalyst for complexity that’s well worth the quest.”
This isn’t the first collector’s edition Whistle Pig has offered. Last year, the distiller rolled out The Badönkådonk, a whiskey aged for 25 years that was finished in Silver Oak cabernet barrels (and one that Fortune called “the smoothest, best-tasting single malt we have ever tasted”). That offering sold for $2,000. Prior to that, WhistlePig introduced the 21-year aged The Béhôlden for $900.
Limited quantities of both previous offerings are available at the Distiller’s website.
As for The BigShǝBàng, it blends hints of fresh bread and honeysuckle, with a sweet finish. You’ll want to go easy, though. Not only does each ounce cost hundreds of dollars, the whiskey is a solid 90.4 proof.
