Subsequent releases have been creatively named with a nod to the production process that year: The sixth edition was labeled “六: The Samurai Scientist” since it was a collaboration with Kitaya Sake Brewery in Japan.
The latest edition, WhistlePig’s ninth, is named “Siren’s Song” for the mythological sirens, half-woman, half-bird creatures that used their voices to lure sailors to their death towards jagged, rocky shorelines. These pewter muses, however, are not mythical women-like muses, but instead are pigs dressed in Ancient Greek duds, with each pig holding an emblem of the particular muse they represent.
A visit to Patras, Greece, where Rhodes and her team tasted the top tenturas, was the first step in the production of The Boss Hog IX: Siren’s Song. Produced in Patras, the regional capital of Western Greece, since at least the 15th century, Tentura (Greek: τεντούρα) is a distillate alcohol, typically brandy, flavored with cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, and citrus fruits. Deep amber, tentura, known locally as μοσχοβολήθρα, boasts an alcohol content of about 25%.
Back on their farm in Vermont, WhistlePig whiskey makers Liz Rhoades and Meghan Ireland whipped up their own tentura using cinnamon, clone, nutmeg, orange peel, and honey to flavor their unique take on the classic Greek liquor.