Review: Bhakta Spirits' Hogsworth Bourbon Takes A Risk But Falls Short

Correction 9/9/2024: This article's original title indicated Hogsworth to be a WhistlePig product. Hogsworth is a product of Bhatka Spirits.

Nobody ever faulted Raj Peter Bhakta for small ambitions. This is, after all, the spirits maven who forded the Rio Grande atop an elephant. The founder of WhistlePig has never really left the whiskey game even after a contentious departure from that company. Since then, he's been at work on Bhakta Spirits, including its admirable namesake whiskey, a rum, and now Hogsworth.

His latest release is an undeniable nod to his past company, where the parting was more sorrowful than sweet, and materials announcing its arrival say as much. Pigs adorn the WhistlePig brand's heavenly whiskeys — although the word "whistlepig" is actually yet another name for a groundhog/woodchuck, making it very on-brand for a Vermont spirit, the state that gave us Woodchuck Cider (no affiliation). Still, it's pork on the brain here, as the press release quotes Bhakta as saying, "I remained fond of pigs." Hey, still befitting the state where "A Day No Pigs Would Die" was set. I got to try the first bottle of Hogsworth for Tasting Table, and here are my thoughts, plus all the information you need to know about it.

Some recommendations are based on first-hand impressions of promotional materials and products provided by the manufacturer/distributor/etc.

Hogsworth, according to its own press materials, aims to be an affordable whiskey for the aficionado feeling the sting of inflation. Exactly how much that even qualifies when half the bottle is brandy is already a dubious argument, though not a disingenuous one. Hogsworth flies its French brandy flag high and proudly. The 52% bourbon used here was casked in 2019 using bourbons from Tennessee (42%) and Minnesota (10%), and a mixture of French Armagnacs from 2012 (22%), 2010 (21%), and Bhakta 1982 (5%). This last is the signature flourish, with the nominal presence of a four-decades-old spirit that Bhakta Spirits has been touting and selling at $309.

Armagnac, if you're not familiar, is a French white wine brandy from the southwest. Much like how Champagne is a particular type of sparkling wine, Armagnac refers to a specific source and class of brandy. Bhakta appears to be sitting on quite a store of it, since it's a top result if you search for the spirit itself. Out of the gate, this all poses the question of whether it's really fighting inflation, or if it's mixing bourbon with excess stock brandy and charging what you'd pay for an extra-rare breed of Wild Turkey that skips the much-reviled chill filtration step.

This is not a whiskey as such. While made from whiskey according to U.S. standards from bourbon production, Hogsworth is then blended at about half and half with brandy. In this first outing, that brandy is 48% French Armagnac in three different ages, from 1982, 2010, and 2012 vintages. Given that Hogsworth sells in a three-pack, it seems like there would have been some value in Bourbon + Armagnac [Year] in escalating age statements, but that's not the case.

So while 52% of this blended spirit is a variety of bourbon, making it majority whiskey, it's really a mix through and through. While promotions keep calling this a whiskey, that's a pretty broad statement. It's much more akin to a cocktail mixture; just add the soft drink of your choice. And as a preview of the tasting notes, you're probably going to want one.

Having originally aimed for a $45 price tag, Hogsworth landed on a manufacturer's suggested retail price of $50, which will put it above a lot of shelf-standard mixers that please on their own, though pretty good for the elevated mark it's aiming for. Hogsworth seems to be targeting drinkers who'd like something that competes with the ever-rising prestige bottles — at least, if Hogsworth can hold up next to the soaring Weller, Taylor, or even more sought-after expressions from your bar's well labels.

Normally, finding this wouldn't be the easiest thing in the world; an expected production run of 3000 bottles became just 1700. However, you can only order it online, so it's equally reachable from anywhere. The catch is that you have to buy a three-pack, meaning this $50 inflation-buster (already a dubious enough claim when good bottles can be found for $20 to $30) is now a $150 triple-commitment, and you still haven't tried it to say for sure that you want to go all-in here. Let's take a taste and see if that's going to be a problem.

I've tried Hogsworth's first outing a few different ways a few different times now, but I still can't get around the steep clash between whatever is bitter and oaky about it against whatever is sweet within the brandy. These two spirits just react to their casks in very different ways, and I'm not here for it. They never synthesize or synchronize. You can't pitch your product as "a refuge against inflation for the bourbon drinker" when nearly half of its liquid is in combat with the bourbon contained therein. How dare you lock poor, innocent bourbon in a bottle with this brandy?

A drop of water pulls it away from the bourbon side and more towards brandy, where it stabilizes some, but not much. Just because it's not the most incriminating version of its sins doesn't mean the vice doesn't remain. The best thing I can say about this is it doesn't give me the usual headache that brandy does.

It's a shame, because a mixture like this is a novel idea. You can't fault the innovation. It might perform well in a cocktail, not because you're burying it, but because it brings a couple of aspects toward their strength. It's halfway to a Manhattan already, even if that Manhattan varies on both the whiskey and wine fronts. I should probably give this one more try after a steep pour of cherry juice. But I don't want to.

I will say that the more I drink Hogsworth Batch 1 Blend #9 on the rocks, the more I feel it pulls forward to something easy to sip, if not exactly nice. A lot of whiskeys find themselves bringing forward their vanilla and caramel notes, even if not exactly getting sweeter. That seems to be the case here, to the betterment of both sides. Icing it mutes some of the bitterness and bridges the two liquors. While they might not exactly start singing in harmony, they've at least agreed to live and let live while staying out of each other's way.

A nice kind of caramel popcorn finish does start to come forward, and I could get on board with that if it were more present throughout. Anyway, here's your bourbon-brandy hybrid; take it with ice, if only to numb its worst tendencies. You're welcome.

As much as I enjoyed the Bhakta 2012 Indian Single Malt, and despite the high praise I shower upon each new WhistlePig, I cannot recommend Hogsworth to you in good conscience — not at $50, nay, not even at $20. While it obviously represents more body and craft than a bottle of Mellow Corn, I don't think you'll find too many folks who go for this flavor profile. It may entice some enthusiasts, because it presents something different, but I think most people are going to find it somewhere in the C-tier range. If anybody wants a bottle, there's most of one waiting for you in the Bronx.

Still, innovation is risky and admirable, and Bhakta has shown himself indefatigable in his willingness to break. We'll see you for Batch 2, Blend # ... well, that remains to be seen, but hopefully ten or higher.