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.
Peg Leg Porker 8 Years Review - Score Breakdown
Summary
Peg Leg Porker 8 Years is George Dickel and it’s great.
Overall
- Nose - 89
- Palate - 89
- Finish - 88
- Balance, Body & Feel - 89
The rumor that it doesn’t go through the Lincoln County Process is from Bringle himself… “Ours is a Tennessee straight bourbon. It’s not going through the Lincoln County process before it goes in the barrel. It’s distilled and aged in Tennessee, but what we do different is it’s kind of our take on a process like the Lincoln County process, but we take the bourbon and de-barrel it, then we filter it through hickory charcoal that I actually burn down in my pit at the front of my restaurant. We have a hickory charcoal finishing process that gives it our unique signature and flavor and taste.” This is from a 2016 interview with The Whiskey Wash. Either way, it’s definitely Dickel and it’s definitely delicious.
Very interesting, thanks for sharing. Cheers BDanner!
Question: your comments suggest this is George Dickel and possibly their 12 year old. However George Dickel says it is a Sour Mash or Tennessee Whiskey. Peak leg Porker says it is a Bourbon Whiskey. Is there a difference between the two whiskeys? Thanks
Hey Craig,
On a technical level, Tennessee whiskey can qualify as a bourbon. There are other “Tennessee Bourbons” out there that come from Dickel. Also, all major producers use the sour mash process so it’s not that unique in the greater market. It’s far more unique to see a sweet mash where they don’t use any of the previous mash as a starter and to balance the PH.
Hope that makes sense / helps. Cheers!
I really like this stuff…curious if this was finished in Sherry casks? My bottle has a red tint and has Sherry on the taste. Just curious – Mike
Hey Mike, as far as I know it wasn’t and by TTB standards it would have to say that on the label if it was, so I doubt it, Cheers!