Ancient Egypt Meets a Vermont Rye Whiskey
WhistlePig Whiskey tells BourbonBlog.com it has reached back more than 3,000 years for the newest chapter in its most collectible whiskey series. The Boss Hog XIII: The Golden Pharaoh is a single-barrel straight rye aged in new American oak and finished in barrels seasoned with Egyptian black honey and tiger nuts—a world-first finish and the first Boss Hog inspired by Africa.
Our history with the series began when we tasted the original Boss Hog in 2013. Our coverage and interviews followed in 2014, beginning with The Boss Hog II: The Spirit of Mortimer.
Since then, we have tasted more releases, interviewed the WhistlePig team—including Head Blender Meghan Ireland—and BourbonBlog.com’s Tom Fischer and team have visited the farm and distillery in Shoreham, Vermont.
Now, we’re turning back the clock 12 years through our stories, interviews and videos to trace The Boss Hog’s evolution before unsealing The Golden Pharaoh.
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The Boss Hog XIII is available for presale beginning September 9, 2026, followed by wider availability beginning September 30. The suggested retail price is $599.99 for a 750 mL bottle.
Which Boss Hog Have You Tried?
Have you tasted one of the 13 Boss Hog releases? Which edition was your favorite—and is The Golden Pharaoh one you would open, collect or both? Share your answer in the comments below on this link.
WhistlePig The Boss Hog XIII Overview
- Full Name: The Boss Hog XIII: The Golden Pharaoh
- Classification: Straight rye whiskey finished in Egyptian black honey and tiger nut-seasoned barrels
- Format: Single barrel and bottled at barrel proof
- Primary Maturation: New American oak barrels
- Age Statement: None stated
- Proof: 102.6 to 105.6 proof, varying by barrel
- Alcohol: 51.3% to 52.8% ABV
- Bottle Size: 750 mL
- Suggested Retail Price: $599.99
- Presale: September 9, 2026
- Wider Release: September 30, 2026
- Topper: Handmade pewter Golden Pharaoh pig inspired by King Tut, with a small number of bottles receiving an exceptionally rare gold topper
Proof varies because The Golden Pharaoh is bottled one barrel at a time. The tasting notes below are WhistlePig’s descriptions, not BourbonBlog.com’s independent review notes.
Before We Go Further, Take a Look Back and WATCH: Bourbon Expert Tom Fischer Tastes Boss Hog 2025 and 2021 with Meghan Ireland
Before we go deeper into The Golden Pharaoh, watch BourbonBlog.com’s Tom Fischer with WhistlePig Head Blender Meghan Ireland exploring two earlier Boss Hog releases.
The Boss Hog XII: Feather & Flame in 2025
Tom Fischer and Meghan Ireland taste the 2025 Boss Hog and explore its cacao, pulque and Mexican pepper finish.
The Boss Hog VIII: LapuLapu’s Pacific in 2021
Tom Fischer is joined by Meghan Ireland and WhistlePig Lead Distiller Emily Harrison for a live tasting of the Philippine rum cask-finished eighth edition.
Inside The New Release: Golden Pharaoh’s Egyptian Black Honey and Tiger Nut Finish
The idea started with a tiger nut cake recipe found on the side of an ancient Egyptian tomb. WhistlePig’s team recreated the cake at its Shoreham, Vermont farm, then translated those flavors into the finishing barrels for this year’s Boss Hog.
The names can be deceptive. Egyptian black honey—Asal Eswed in Arabic—is not honey made by bees. It is a dark sugarcane molasses that remains part of Egyptian cuisine. Tiger nuts are not nuts, either; they are small edible tubers with flavors often compared with almond and coconut.
WhistlePig says the two ingredients have deep roots in Egyptian food and culture, where they have historically been used as food, medicine and ritual offerings. For The Golden Pharaoh, barrels seasoned with those flavors receive the already well-aged straight rye after its time in new American oak.
“We recreated the recipe on our farm and fell in love with the flavor combination,” WhistlePig Head Blender Meghan Ireland says. After experimenting with what those flavors could bring to rye whiskey, she adds: “We were not disappointed!”
Official Tasting Notes from WhistlePig, ours from BourbonBlog.com coming soon…
- Nose: Brown sugar, cinnamon and toasted almond, with a pastry-like character.
- Palate: Molasses arrives first, followed by lighter honey-like sweetness, baking spice, black pepper and the unmistakable structure of rye.
- Finish: Soft toasted almond returns alongside a note of fresh oatmeal.
The bottle leans fully into the theme. A handmade pewter pig topper depicts the Golden Pharaoh, while the Eyes of Horus are intended to symbolize protection and wellbeing. A select—and unspecified—number of bottles will carry a rare gold version of the topper.
At nearly $600, this remains a serious collector-level whiskey. The real question is whether the molasses depth, tiger nut character and rye spice deliver something as distinctive in the glass as the story is on the bottle. We look forward to exploring that.
A Look Back at Every WhistlePig Boss Hog Release
What began as an ultra-aged, single-barrel, barrel-strength rye has become WhistlePig’s annual laboratory for unusual woods, global drinks, regional ingredients and one-off finishing ideas. Here is the full journey through all 13 editions.
- The Boss Hog (2013): The original release—a 12¾-year-old Canadian rye bottled as a single barrel at barrel strength.
- The Boss Hog II: The Spirit of Mortimer (2014): A nearly 14-year-old, 100% rye bottled at approximately 118 to 124 proof. The release honored Mortimer, one of the farm’s beloved pigs, and marked the beginning of BourbonBlog.com’s Boss Hog coverage.
- The Boss Hog III: The Independent (2015): A 14-year-old rye finished in custom 250-liter hogsheads assembled from used Scotch whisky barrel staves and new American oak heads.
- The Boss Hog IV: The Black Prince (2017): A 14-year-old rye finished in Armagnac casks from France.
- The Boss Hog V: The Spirit of Mauve (2018): A 13-year-old rye finished in Calv
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