WhistlePig’s Latest Whiskey Influenced By Baseball Bats

by Nino Kilgore-Marchetti
March 31, 2022

No, the headline you read for this article is not an April Fool’s joke one day ahead of April 1st. Rather, Vermont-based WhistlePig, known for its various innovations in wood finishing with its rye whiskeys, has gone a new direction with its PiggyBack expressions, starting a new line up known as the Legends Series. The first of these, tied to baseball Hall of Famer David Ortiz (“Big Papi”), was finished in toasted barrels containing Ortiz’s signature DO34 maple wood bats.

The new whiskey, known as WhistlePig PiggyBack Legends Series: Big Papi Barrel, was created for and selected by Ortiz. It is a 100% rye whiskey aged six years in American oak and finished in barrels containing toasted DO34 maple wood bats. It is bottled at 96.56 proof, and described as being the “perfect proof to enjoy in an Opening Day Old Fashioned [recipe for this below], or on the rocks, this season.”

“I’m thrilled to go to bat for WhistlePig Whiskey by kicking off the first limited-edition collection in the new Legends Series,” said Ortiz, 2022 Baseball Hall of Fame Inductee, in a prepared statement. “This first-of-its-kind whiskey gives fans the opportunity to celebrate America’s pastime over a drink that connects them further to the sport.”

“If you ask anyone at the distillery, they’ll tell you my signature quote is ‘I’ll put anything in a barrel once.’ This experiment was particularly fun in that it brings together two of my favorite things – breaking new ground for Rye Whiskey, and sports,” added Meghan Ireland, WhistlePig Blender. “It was incredible to collaborate with David Ortiz, whose toasted maple bats add layers of spice and caramelized notes to the bold, 100% Rye character of WhistlePig PiggyBack. I think fans of the game – regardless of team – will find a home run in the Big Papi Barrel.”

As to how this baseball bat finishing process works exactly, it was explained by WhistlePig as “first the bats are convection toasted in order to get the perfect toasted consistency, and then go through an extra fire toast to increase the caramelized vanilla flavors that imparts deep flavors into the whiskey. The whiskey is finished in barrels with the toasted bats for 6 weeks before bottling.”

Plans call for this whiskey to be available for purchase online at shop.whistlepigwhiskey.com starting today for $49.99 MSRP per 750ml bottle. A limited quantity of bottles, signed by Ortiz himself, will be available for purchase for $340 in honor of #34, with proceeds from sales of each bottle benefiting the David Ortiz Boston Heart Classic, raising funds for children in need of heart surgery.

Beyond this offering, other upcoming releases of the limited edition PiggyBack Legends Series, said by the brand to be “celebrating living legends who give 100% in the name of greatness,” are slated for launch later this year in partnership with Barstool Sports.

Official tasting notes are as follows: