WhistlePig GraveStock Is a Wheat Whiskey Proofed with Liquid Death
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WhistlePig has been a leader in the premium rye whiskey category since it launched in 2010, sourcing whiskey from MGP in Indiana and Alberta Distillers in Calgary and finishing it at its Vermont farm. The distillery has also been making its own whiskey onsite over the past few years, and engaged in a bunch of cross-brand experiments along the way. The latest of these is called GraveStock, and it’s a wheat whiskey that was proofed down from barrel strength with Liquid Death Mountain Water.
As mentioned before, this is the latest in a string of WhistlePig collaborations with other brands, including CampStock (aged in barrels charred by a Solo Stove), PiggyBack Legends Series (subjected to g-forces in an F1 training facility while still inside a barrel), and SmokeStock (smoked using Traeger Grills apple barbecue wood). Given all of that, it should come as no surprise that the distillery is at it again, this time partnering with another brand to create a whiskey that might seem conceptually dubious to some.
GraveStock is a wheat whiskey that was cut to proof with Liquid Death Mountain Water, the popular canned water brand that sources its water from . . . the mountains, exact location undisclosed. Ask any distiller or blender in the industry and they will tell you that the quality and type of water has an impact upon a whiskey’s flavor, especially if it’s being used to dilute the whiskey before it’s bottled, so this gimmick is not completely devoid of logic. But WhistlePig has characteristically taken the project to another level with a cask finish that seems to have been inspired by the Liquid Death brand name. The whiskey was sourced from an undisclosed distillery and made from an undisclosed mashbill (it must be at least 51 percent wheat to be considered a wheat whiskey, however), and it spent several years in an American oak barrel before being transferred to 380-gallon American oak casket-shaped foeders.
“The custom casket-shaped foeders where GraveStock Wheat Whiskey finds its final resting place are the first of their kind, and a bucket list experiment we literally went big on,” said head blender Meghan Ireland in a statement. “They add character in a subtle way that lets the nuance of the wheat whiskey shine. Wheat’s softness and easy style is rounded out with bright notes of honeysuckle, biscotti and butterscotch.” We got to try a sample of the whiskey, and despite all the marketing gimmicks it’s a solid whiskey: very wheat-forward, as you would expect, with notes of toasted nuts, sweet vanilla, honey, and baked brown sugar on the palate. WhistlePig won’t say what level the whiskey was proofed down from, so we don’t know just how much Liquid Death was actually used, but the final product was bottled at 86 proof.
WhistlePig GraveStock Wheat Whiskey (SRP $75) is available at liquor stores, bars, and restaurants. You can also snag it on the brand’s website now, and you can find its other expressions on websites like ReserveBar.
