WhistlePig Piggybank 10 Year Rye Review [In Depth]

WhistlePig Piggybank 10 Year Rye

by: ALEX WANG
Founder, writer

WhistlePig Piggybank 10 Year Rye Details

Distillery: WhistlePig

Type & Region: Rye whiskey

Alcohol: 55%

Composition: 100% rye

Aged: At least 10 years

Color: 1.3/2.0 on the color scale (russet, muscat)

Price: $300 (1L)

From the company website:

The WhistlePig 10 Limited Edition PiggyBank Rye is pure gold in a bottle – complete with a pig who’s got the… well, let’s just say the “golden balls” to prove it!

Aged for a glorious decade with each year adding a little more sparkle and shine, this limited edition collectible is the golden hog of the holiday season, the crown jewel of any festive feast, and sure to hog all the attention on your home bar or mantle. Get your hands on this golden glory and bring home the bacon – it’s the ultimate holiday gift for anyone with a taste for the finer (and shinier) things in life!

The one-of-a-kind collectible packaging doubles as a PiggyBank, complete with a coin slot to begin saving for the next great cause.

WhistlePig Piggybank 10 Year Rye overview

Oh boy, where do I even start with this review?

I guess I’ll start with the the packaging. Piggybank refers to the pig motifs of the WhistlePig brand, and bank refers to the fact that this very fancy and crazy packaging acts like a piggy bank. There’s a slot at the top of the box where you can put coins. It’ll hit the bottle and then rest somewhere inside the box, so opening the box will lead to coins spilling out everywhere. Good or bad, I don’t know.

Now inside the box lives a very shiny golden pig (or at least a bottle in the shape of a very shiny golden pig) that stands on a pedestal. The cap is strategically placed as the pig’s butt, so you have to pour the whiskey out of the pig’s butt. It’s cheek stuff. To add to that, the bottle contains 1L of whiskey instead of 750ml, and a little extra booze doesn’t hurt. It’s bold, shiny, gaudy, and ridiculous. It’s kind of awesome at the same time.

The liquid holds a little bonus of its own. While the regular WhistlePig 10 Year is 50% ABV, stores a little more booze at 55% ABV.

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There’s one more nugget of information (and WhistlePig never likes it when I write it) – the whiskey in this bottle is sourced from Canada. Yes, the whiskey is crafted, possibly finished, and bottled in Vermont, but it’s still distilled in Canada. It’s even written on the bottle. It’s fine, it is what it is, and I want the readers to know that so they know what they’re buying. If the whiskey is great, then it doesn’t matter that much.

Let’s find out how much substance is in all this shiny packaging in this WhistlePig PiggyBank 10 Year Rye review.

This bottle was provided to me at no cost. All opinions are still my own.

As an FYI, I bought and use these Glencairn glasses for everything (they’re the best): Glencairn Crystal Whiskey Glass Set of 6, Set of 4, Set of 2, or just one. Full transparency, this is an affiliate link, so I may earn a commission if you buy this or something else from Amazon.

WhistlePig Piggybank 10 Year Rye smell

I initially smell darker caramel, herbal fennel and licorice, candied pineapple and ginger, toasted oak, vanilla, clove, orange peel, cherry, and pine. WhistlePig PiggyBank Rye has a nice darker sweetness, herbalness, and fruitiness with well controlled heat. The heat feels much lighter than its 55% ABV.

So far, the fruitiness (although a bit shy) is the most noteworthy set of scents here, with a fragrant and pleasant variety of dark and more tropical fruits.

The scents also have good body and decent expressiveness, but it feels a bit held back. ABV clearly isn’t the issue here, but for some reason it doesn’t have that leap out of the glass character.

Learn more about WhistlePig Piggyback Gin Cask Finished Rye

After swirling, I smell darker honey / caramel sweetness with candied ginger and lemon peel, licorice, roasted oak, vanilla, clove, cherry, a little pine, and some darker maple syrup in the back. This still smells fantastic, and I think swirling helped bring out a little more expressiveness and life.

WhistlePig Piggybank Rye has that extra hint of maturity with the darker maple syrup sweetness, which I dig. The herbalness from all that rye is definitely there and noticeable, but it’s not quite so in your face as other ryes can be. So if you like rye, you’ll feel right at home, but it may also feel more approachable for someone who isn’t completely sure if they like rye. It’s rye-y and herbal, but not overpoweringly so.

I wish that this were a bit more expressive to seal the deal, but WhistlePig Piggy Bank Rye already smells great.

WhistlePig Piggybank 10 Year Rye taste and aftertaste

I taste honey, grapefruit, licorice, caraway seed, vanilla, roasted oak, clove, cinnamon, caramel, candied ginger and pineapple, and some toasted grain in the back. WhistlePig Piggybank has good body and richness so the flavors feel substantive. The heat again is well controlled, having the bite of maybe something that’s 50% ABV.

The flavors also hit a wide range of dark and bright flavors – bright and dark sweetness, more brighter sweetness, and darker oak + spice + earthiness that offer an interesting experience. That said, it’s not all that unique, but it still feels well done

The expressiveness isn’t all there yet, but I haven’t done any “chewing” to try to push it out yet so we’ll find out what happens.

Learn more WhistlePig 12 Year Shafer Cask Finished Rye

“Chewing” pulls out a bigger burst of caramel, candied ginger, licorice, roasted oak, vanilla, candied lemon peel, maple syrup, caraway seed, and pine. Yup, “chewing” opens up the flavors and pulls out more dark sweetness, fruitiness, herbalness, and earthiness, and it tastes better with every sip.

The finish leaves honey, toasted oak, caraway seed, candied ginger and pineapple, clove, and licorice with really long lasting oak, licorice, candied ginger, and mint. I’m talking lasting for minutes on end.

WhistlePig Piggybank 10 Year Rye thankfully tastes much better than it smells – rich, varied, mature, and complex. Those are all things that are must haves for a rye this expensive. I like rye a lot, and this scratches that itch.

Yeah, this is “Top Shelf” whiskey that tastes wonderful.

I’ve unfortunately lost some Glencairn’s while in transit, and that made me very sad. So, I wised up and bought this Glencairn Travel Case that comes also comes with 2 glasses so I don’t need to worry so much about them breaking. I think it’s great, and I think you’ll love it too. Seriously, if you already have glasses, protect them.

Consider supporting The Whiskey Shelf and Warehouse H by buying the book via this affiliate link.

WhistlePig Piggybank 10 Year Rye Rating

Let’s be honest, the whiskey in WhistlePig Piggybank 10 Year is excellent, but you’re paying $300 because the packaging is fun, wild, and over the top. This whiskey in normal packaging would probably be $100-120 (for a 750ml), so a lot of that extra price probably comes through the packaging. You really have to go to the bank to buy this one.

Just so I’m clear, the whiskey itself isn’t $300 good (even for a 1L), but I can see the allure of this bottle for the right gift / occasion.

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This is how you should think about this whiskey and the wild packaging that comes with it – buy this if you want a great rye whiskey and you love the absolutely incredible and crazy bottle on your shelf.

I personally enjoy the packaging, but I didn’t have to pay for it (lucky me). I honestly would not pay that much of a markup for the packaging. I would rather use that $300 towards 3-5 outstanding whiskeys instead. Give me just the rye in the standard bottle for $120 and it’d be easy to recommend.

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Meet the Author: Alex

I have far too much fun writing about whiskey and singlehandedly running The Whiskey Shelf to bring you independent, honest, and useful reviews, comparisons, and more. I’m proudly Asian American and can speak Cantonese, Mandarin, and some Japanese.

There are no sponsors, no media companies, and no nonsense. Support The Whiskey Shelf by Buying Me A Shot.

Shattered glass really sucks, so if you’re on the move, this Glencairn-like stainless steel snifter glass should survive your travels. Full transparency, this is an Amazon affiliate link, so I may earn a commission if you buy this or something else from Amazon.

BrüMate NOS’R, Double-Wall Stainless Steel Whiskey Nosing Glass – 7oz (Matte Black)