- Whistlepig has launched its latest PiggyBack Legends Series, partnering with Alfa Romeo's F1 team.
- Bottles were tested in Alfa Romeo's wind tunnel in Switzerland.
Whiskey maker Whistlepig has launched its latest PiggyBack Legends Series, and this time, they have put the beverage through a series of tests usually reserved for the fastest racecars and drivers in the world.
The newest iteration in the series, which honors "those who give 100% in the name of greatness," has partnered with the Alfa Romeo Formula One team and their drivers, Valtteri Bottas from Finland and the first Chinese F1 driver, Zhou Guanyu.
To keep with the F1 theme, barrels were actually tested in Alfa Romeo's wind tunnel in Switzerland. Some barrels even endured varying levels of G-Forces at the WhistlePig distillery to accelerate the all-important interaction between the whiskey and the wood.
According to Whistlepig, the drink was bottled with an F1 level of precision at 96.77 proof. The 77 is in honor of Bottas' car number. The ever-popular Bottas finished in the top five of the standings seven times in 10 years, including two runner-up finishes in the championship standings.
Meanwhile, in honor of Zhou, the whiskey is finished with lychee, a fruit native to South China, and oolong tea, a popular herbal in South China.
In a fun twist, Whistlepig Head Blender Meghan Ireland came with a solid F1-inspired pun game (emphasis ours).
"We're taking our third Legends Series release on a ryed like never before," Ireland said. "Our experiments with dynamic aging went full throttle during finishing trials at the Alfa Romeo F1® Team Stake wind tunnel, in turn inspiring new ways to expose barrels to G-forces back at the WhistlePig Farm. The herbal and floral notes of the lychee and tea barrel selected with the team create a new, podium-topping experience for PiggyBack Rye."
This is the third bottle in the series, which started in early 2022. Earlier versions partnered with Major League Baseball Hall of Famer David Ortiz and country music stars Brothers Osborne.
Bottles will be available for purchase online and in select US stores. Just don't drink it too fast.