New York
CNN
—
Liquid Death is getting closer to resembling its name.
The trendy water brand is partnering with WhistlePig Whiskey to create a new whiskey partially aged in an actual casket at the Vermont distillery, and made with Liquid Death’s mountain-sourced water, the companies announced Wednesday.
The limited-time release, called “WhistlePig GraveStock Wheat Whiskey,” is “pouring one out for the drinkers who know life is too short to drink anything but the best,” the companies said in a press release. The collaboration is taking aim at people who might be tired of spritzes, canned cocktails and beers.
Rest assured, it doesn’t taste anything close to death: The wheat whiskey was aged several years in a traditional oak barrel and then finished in the custom-made casket — no actual corpses involved — for about two weeks. WhistlePig said what results is a lively, 86-proof spirit that has notes of honeysuckle, biscotti and butterscotch.
For WhistlePig, the collaboration couldn’t have come at a better time. Spirit sales are sagging with major distilleries enduring layoffs following a post Covid-19 boon. That’s a challenge for WhistlePig Whiskey CEO Charles Gibb, who joined the company earlier this month from cocktail mixer company Fever-Tree.
“The industry’s having a tougher time than it’s had for a while,” he admitted to CNN. “But, in a weird way, I see that as an opportunity for brands such as WhistlePig because we’re not yet at massive national scale and consumers are still looking for brands that have authenticity at their core.”
WhistlePig and Liquid Death, both of which are younger brands in their respective categories, often bet big with partnerships to make noise.
The former has teamed up with Formula 1 racing, rocker Alice Cooper and Solo Stoves for custom whiskey blends. Liquid Death, which is reportedly valued at $1.4 billion, has partnered with e.l.f. cosmetics and Martha Stewart for new products in addition to regularly dropping new flavors.
So collaborating together was an easy fit, Gibb said.
“They’ve both got their own very distinctive followings and as a result, the partnership is where the DNA of one brand meets the DNA of another brand, collaborating and combining to create something that pique’s people’s interest as well as opening up both brands to new consumers,” Gibb told CNN.
Gibb sees collaborations, like GraveStock, as a proven way to bring in new drinkers into the ultra-premium rye whiskey category, which WhistlePig is the top-selling brand in.
In particular, this whiskey release is on the lighter side, Gibb says, resulting in a “easy drinking, light summer whiskey” for customers who might be drinking WhistlePig for the first time.
“WhistlePig GraveStock Wheat Whiskey” costs $74.99 for a standard-sized 750ml bottle and will be sold beginning June 24 online and at select retailers, restaurants and bars.
