While whiskey is certainly enjoyable any time of year, the brown stuff is probably best enjoyed in the winter months. It’s dark, it’s warming, it’s comforting… whiskey just makes sense when the temperature drops. Summer drinks, meanwhile, tend to be refreshing, such as a cold pilsner or a mai tai. Those are typically what people are drinking on the beach, not an old fashioned. But WhistlePig is looking to make summer whiskey a thing with some help from retro sunglasses brand Pit Viper with its latest limited-edition whiskey, SummerStock.
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To make its latest whiskey, WhistlePig — which has been straying more and more from its core rye whiskey lineup lately, to splendid results — has blended its signature rye with a wheat whiskey. As is typical from the brand, no mashbill has been provided, but the combo tips the scales at 86 proof in the bottle. There’s no age statement either, but the brand says the whiskey is “solara” aged. That’s not a misprint, but rather a play on solera aging, which is a maturation process that involves blending new spirit with aged spirit in a series of increasingly older casks. For WhistlePig’s solara aging process, the brand swapped in different levels of toasted barrels for the whiskey’s maturation, with the most notable barrels having spent time outside toasting in the sun — which is why WP is referring to SummerStock as “sun-toasted.”
For the SummerStock release — which occurs today, on the summer solstice — WhistlePig collaborated with sunglasses brand Pit Viper, which contributed to the brightly-colored, early ’90s-inspired co-branded bottle and packaging. Pit Viper is also providing a matching, custom pair of its 2000s wraparound sunglasses that are available as a package deal with the whiskey. The reason for all of this hoopla around the sun is to celebrate WhistlePig transitioning to 100 percent solar power at its Vermont farm and distillery earlier this year. As part of that celebration, part of the proceeds from sales of SummerStock will be donated to Everybody Solar, an organization that provides free solar power to nonprofits.
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Tasting WhistlePig SummerStock Whiskey
OK, enough talk, it’s time to drink some whiskey. According to WhistlePig, the tasting notes of SummerStock are as follows:
- Nose: Sweet maple notes with hints of vanilla
- Palate: Oak, baking spice and maple tempered by the softness of wheat
- Finish: Slight jammy finish
