Peg Leg Porker is a BBQ restaurant located in Nashville, TN owned by Pitmaster Carey Bringle who lost his leg to cancer at a young age; hence the name. Peg Leg Porker 8 Years is his second release of sourced whiskey and its launch in 2016 garnered almost as much acclaim as his wildly successful restaurant. Though it has a ways to go in the awards category before it catches up to his BBQ competition winnings.
In Peg Leg Porker’s Words: Peg Leg Porker 8 Years
“Our bourbon is finished using hickory charcoal. After the whiskey is taken from its barrels, it is filtered through hickory creating our signature flavor and color,” said Carey Bringle, Peg Leg Porker owner. “We continue to grow our men’s lifestyle brand and this new whiskey is essential to that growth. BBQ fans and bourbon fans will love this whiskey.”
While it has been widely speculated that the whisky is sourced from George Dickel (I’m in that camp) Carey has never revealed the source. There is a claim floating around that this whiskey didn’t go through the Lincoln county process, but from touring the George Dickel Distillery I have to say that circumventing that process with their setup wouldn’t exactly be an easy task. Completely doable, but not completely easy. Anyways on to the Peg Leg Porker 8 Years review.
Peg Leg Porker 8 Years Info
Region: Tennessee, USA
Distiller: George Dickel
Bottler: Peg Leg Porker
Mashbill: 84% corn 8% rye 8% malted barley
Cask: New Charred Oak
Age: 8 Years
ABV: 45%
Price: $50
Peg Leg Porker 8 Years Review
EYE
Auburn
NOSE
Rustic and sweet with layers of raw corn, dry candy sweetness (Smarties-like), vanilla, toffee, biscuits, oak and a bit of flowery spice. It smells like Dickel.
PALATE
Heavy with sweet grain, smarties and toffee it opens to deeper notes of vanilla, cherries, oak, nuts and lighter notes of baking spice and citrus. It tastes like Dickel.
FINISH
Medium fade out of oak, spice, corn, vanilla and nuts. The aftertaste is Dickel.
BALANCE, BODY & FEEL
Well balanced, medium body and a light velvety feel.
OVERALL
Peg Leg Porker 8 Years is awesome, but would you really expect George Dickel to be anything else? They picked some good barrels here and that distinctive dried corn and dry candy sweetness come through immediately on the nose and palate. Some folks call it a “multi-vitamin note”, but to me it’s more like freshly milled corn. Either way, it’s a character I’m well acquainted with and enjoy immensely.
Last week I met up with a group of other whiskey lovers here in Los Angeles and had some of the folks there taste the Peg Leg Porker 8 Years and see what they thought about it. Every single one of the bourbon drinkers, including a recently retired blogger, said the same thing after a sniff and a sip: “This is George Dickel”. There’s no way it isn’t, even with the claim that it never went through the Lincoln County process, it’s undeniably that awesome George Dickel whiskey that I enjoy so much.
SCORE: 88/100 (B+)
*Thanks to Signde for the bottle split.