WhistlePig Makes History With Debut of 21 Year Old Single Malt Whiskey, The Béhôlden

WhistlePig Whiskey has unveiled its first American single malt whiskey: The Béhôlden. (Photo: WhistlePig Whiskey)

On Wednesday, WhistlePig Whiskey unveiled an exciting new release: WhistlePig The Béhôlden Single Malt Whiskey.

This release is highly significant for a number of reasons. First, it’s the first single malt WhistlePig has ever released. WhistlePig is known almost exclusively for its rye whiskeys but recently expanded into bourbon, as well. Second, The Béhôlden was aged 21 years, an extraordinarily long time for any whiskey, but especially an American single malt, which is a relatively young category. WhistlePig is touting this new expression as the “first-ever super-aged North American Single Malt,” claiming its 21-year age statement is “more than twice as long as the oldest American Single Malt.”

WhistlePig The Béhôlden is aged for 21 years in American Oak ex-bourbon barrels and — to give it that WhistlePig flair — finished for four weeks in WhistlePig Rye barrels before being bottled at 92 proof.

As of Wednesday, WhistlePig The Béhôlden is available nationwide in select retail stores and online at shop.whistlepigwhiskey.com for $799.99 per 750-milliliter bottle.

Each The Béhôlden batch is bottled from a single barrel. Eighteen barrels will be made available for this release.

Images of the box that houses WhistlePig The Béhôlden reveal that the whiskey was “distilled at the fist malt distillery in North America.” Assuming that statement is accurate, The Béhôlden was distilled at Glenora Distillery in Nova Scotia, Canada.

The American single malt movement is growing quickly, with early pioneers such as Clear Creek, St. George and Stranahan’s leading the way. Lately, even the major producers, like Jack Daniel’s, have begun hopping aboard the single malt trend. WhistlePig is the latest to join the party, and it’s doing so in loud fashion, with a single malt bearing a historic age statement.

Keep your eyes peeled for our upcoming review of WhistlePig The Béhôlden.

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