Review: WhistlePig The BigShǝBàng 30 Year Old Single Malt Whiskey
In 2023, WhistlePig released its first single malt whiskey, The Béhôlden 21 Year Old. In 2024, it followed up with The Badönkådonk, a 25 year old single malt. This week, WhistlePig released The BigShǝBàng, a 30 year old single malt that marks its oldest and rarest release to date.
WhistlePig The BigShǝBàng was distilled from 100% malted barley at Glenora Distillery in Glenville, Nova Scotia, Canada, on Cape Breton Island – the oldest single malt distillery in North America – and aged for 30 years in ex-Bourbon American oak barrels, then finished in 225 liter oak barrels that previously held Vin Santo, an Italian dessert wine made from white grapes.
Presented as a single barrel offering, the 2025 release of WhistlePig The BigShǝBàng is limited to four barrels. Each barrel has been bottled at 45.2% ABV, and each bottle is individually numbered and encased in a luxurious wooden display.
If you read my review of WhistlePig The Béhôlden 21 Year Old, you’d know I loved it. Naturally, I have high expectations for The BigShǝBàng. Can it meet them? Let’s find out!
WhistlePig The BigShǝBàng 30 Year Old Single Malt Whiskey Specifications:
- Spirit: Canadian Whiskey.
- Classification: Single Malt.
- Region: Nova Scotia.
- Age: 30 Years Old.
- ABV: 45.2% (90.4 Proof).
- Cask Type: Matured for 30 years in ex-Bourbon American oak and finished in a 225 liter Vin Santo oak barrel.
- Barrel No: 002.
- Price Paid: N/A (Sample from WhistlePig).
- MSRP: $4,999.99 for 750 mL.
Tasting Notes:
- Color: Amber.
- Nose: Leads with aromas of fresh baked bread, baking spices, cigar box, and oak, accompanied by honey, orchard fruit, grapes, and lavender.
- Palate: Creamy mouthfeel. Opens with notes of mild sourdough bread, honey, white grapes, orange, apple, apricot, and plum, complimented by milk chocolate, caramel, vanilla, baking spices such as cinnamon, clove, and nutmeg, and oak, cedar, tobacco, and lavender.
- Finish: Medium length. The baking spices, tobacco, lavender, and woody notes from the palate move to the foreground, with the bread, fruit, and chocolate notes continuing to linger in the background.
Before now, I had never sampled a whiskey that spent any amount of time in a Vin Santo barrel, nor had I sampled Vin Santo itself. As a result, I wasn’t sure what to expect going into The BigShǝBàng.
Consider me impressed. The interplay between malty, fruity, spicy, floral, and other flavors is in perfect harmony, delivering an elegant whiskey that demands your full attention with every sip. The suggested retail price of this bottle puts it out of reach for many, but if you have the means and are looking to drop that kind of money on a rare bottle of whiskey for a special occasion, you won’t be disappointed with WhistlePig The BigShǝBàng.
Rating: A- (90-92%).