WhistlePig The Boss Hog XII Feather & Flame is a single-barrel, cask-strength straight rye whiskey finished in Pulque Curado de Cacao barrels Mexican fermented-agave casks steeped in cacao. The result reads unlike any other Boss Hog release: earthy and rich with cacao running through it, a trifecta of Mexican peppers pushing warmth against WhistlePig’s bold rye backbone. It’s barrel-proof and hand-bottled at the Vermont farm, so proof varies bottle to bottle rather than landing on a fixed number. This is the twelfth release in WhistlePig’s flagship Boss Hog series, built for people who already know the brand and want the outlier vintage. Pour it neat, in small amounts it’s built for sipping slowly.