Back in September, Charleston’s Striped Pig Distillery announced the release of their first aged-rum. Since it was a small batch that was selling fast, The Rum Trader asked a good friend to swing by the distillery to grab me a couple of bottles. I have to admit that we drank the entire first bottle without really worrying about doing a formal tasting. Good friends and tasty rum will often do that to you. I promise that I will crack open the 2nd bottle sometime soon and give it a proper review although their first batch, which was aged for 2 years, has long since sold out.
But I thought a distillery with such a unique name as Striped Pig we should share the story behind it.
The Striped Pig Distillery website tells us:
The original “Striped Pig” is referred to in an Old Sturbridge Village booklet, Rum and Reform, in Old New England. In this selection from A History of the Striped Pig, 1838, we learn of the pig.
This tongue-in-cheek story obviously drove home the point of the temperance reformers like Carrie Nation and Frances Willard; the pig symbolized all drinking men of that time in our country’s history.
…It is in this manner and with that we welcome to Charleston, South Carolina’s first micro-distillery! Striped Pig Distillery is here to reward your taste buds with sophisticated, handcrafted rums, truly fantastic ‘moonshine’ whiskeys and silky smooth vodka.
We are doing it all with respect for traditional methods, using local farmers, distilling spirits slowly, carefully, and using heirloom grains and fruits – The Southern Way. So quench your curiosity, enter our domain, come see the pig and discover what’s in your spirit!