Peg Leg Porker 15 Year Old Double Oaked Rye Whiskey

Barbecue is a religion in Tennessee, and Carey Bringle is its high priest. While his standard releases offer a polite introduction to the relationship between smoke and spirit, the Peg Leg Porker Full Proof is the sermon. This is Tennessee Straight Bourbon in its most primal, unvarnished form, stripped of water and filtered through hickory charcoal burned down in Bringles own pits.

Most “charcoal mellowing” is designed to strip flavor out; Bringles process is designed to put flavor in. The spirit interacts with the carbonized hickory after aging, absorbing a savory, campfire profile that locks into the natural sweetness of the 84% corn mashbill. It is a liquid rib shack.

Bottled at a scorching cask strengthoften hovering near 119 proofthis whiskey offers a texture that is famously oily and dense. You aren’t just drinking bourbon here; you are tasting the result of a lifetime spent tending fires. If you want to know what happens when a pitmaster stops playing nice, pull the cork.