This, coupled with the cost benefits of using alcohol from fermentation rather than distilled spirits, gives hard seltzer an inherent competitive advantage, and it seems that WhistlePig wanted to make use of that advantage when they designed these “cocktails.” It’s an advantageous categorization for companies that produce seltzer, because it allows them to be sold in a much wider range of venues-they can be sold in grocery stores or gas stations, for instance, in many states where spirits/”hard liquor” is only available in package stores. This is how seltzers qualify as “malt beverages” similar to beer under U.S. Instead, they’re made with alcohol derived from fermentation of sugar or malt, in this case malted rye. They don’t contain distilled spirits such as whiskey, vodka, tequila or gin, which would make them mixed drinks/canned spirit cocktails in the eyes of U.S. For those who may still not understand what truly defines hard seltzer-not at all surprising, because hard seltzer is inherently confusing-this is essentially how almost all hard seltzers are defined and made. In other words, you might as well think of this product as a hard seltzer, because that’s how the government classifies it. Then the PR person replied with the following: “The cocktail is made from the fermentation of rye malt.” It was only then that I scoured the can and saw, in even smaller writing: “rye malt beverage with natural flavors.” I was ready to chalk up the confusion to a few odd choices of marketing and wording. I was fairly confident, even then, that the person would reply that yes, each can is made with PiggyBack Rye Whiskey, the name that appears prominently on the front of the can. “Do these cans actually contain whiskey?”, I asked, half joking. Wanting to clarify things, I sent an email to the PR professional who had sent me the cans. It wasn’t until I noticed that the word “whiskey” wasn’t appearing anywhere on the can that I started to wonder: Was this actually a hard seltzer I was holding? The small text on the side of the can describes it as being “made with 100% estate rye and barrel aged fruit.” Unpacking the press sample, I absolutely assumed that this was a canned cocktail made with WhistlePig’s PiggyBack Rye Whiskey brand, which is essentially WhistlePig’s “high value” or budget rye. They proudly proclaim that they’re made with “100% estate rye,” and the words “barrel aged” pop up repeatedly. I think it’s safe to say that if you surveyed WhistlePig’s consumer base on what they’d be expecting/hoping to get in these cans, they would tell you the following:Īnd indeed, the cans really go out of their way to allow the consumer to make this assumption. Suffice to say, I have some serious problems with these “PiggyBack Craft Cocktails,” which also seem to go under the name of WhistlePig PiggyBack Barrel Aged Rye Smash. After all, their rye whiskeys have been associated with cocktails for more than a decade-why not mix up some easy canned cocktails and take advantage of the thriving ready-to-drink (RTD) market? But in doing so, WhistlePig has produced something that is at best inauthentic, and at worst deliberately deceptive to the consumer. The latest of these ventures is a new lineup of canned cocktails, which does seem like a no-brainer for WhistlePig. As time has gone by, WhistlePig has also steadily diversified its interests into other sectors of the alcohol industry, with decidedly mixed results. Suffice to say, WhistlePig has produced some deeply influential products, and those whiskeys are still quite delicious today. This spicier, more distinctive rye profile has arguably become the standard in American rye whiskey in the process, and a cornerstone of the craft whiskey cocktail revolution. WhistlePig, on the other hand, celebrated the spicy, explosively flavorful spirit of the rye grain itself, rather than smoothing away its edges with more bourbon influences. Before the likes of WhistlePig, American ryes were almost always associated with the 51% rye, “barely legal” style of Kentucky rye, which is a very different animal. They make a very high-quality core lineup of whiskey products, with a 100% rye profile that helped their flagship bottle (along with MGP’s 95% rye recipe) redefine the American conception of rye whiskey’s flavor in the 2010s. Let me start by saying this for the record: I’ve been a big fan of Vermont’s WhistlePig Rye Whiskey from the very first time I tasted it, almost a decade ago at this point.
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