Welcome to Taste Test, where every week our critic Jonah Flicker explores the most buzzworthy and interesting whiskeys in the world. Check back each Sunday for his latest whiskey review.

WhistlePig is a distillery dichotomy. This Vermont rye whiskey-making operation has a fantastic core range of age-statement expressions, but when it comes to special releases it’s either putting out some of the most ridiculous, gimmick-ridden whiskeys you can find or some of the most interesting, experimental whiskeys on the market. The annual Boss Hog release falls firmly into the latter category, as evidenced by the new 12th edition, Feather & Flame, which is a fascinatingly spicy whiskey that was inspired by some lesser known Mexican alcoholic beverages.

The first one is pulque, a fermented, sour beer-like drink that is made from the sap of the agave plant. You can still find pulque being served at bars dedicated to the drink around Mexico City, often flavored with different types of fruit. The other drink is xocolatl, a spicy chocolate concoction that dates back to the time of the Aztec and Mayan people. The WhistlePig team traveled to Mexico to learn about both of these drinks, but in the distillery’s usual fashion this was for inspiration and not to actually bring back barrels for cask finishing.

Instead, they created their own version of pulque curado back in Vermont from a recipe of agave, cacao, and Mexican chiltepín, guajillo, and pasilla peppers. That was used to season ex-rye whiskey barrels for a period of two weeks. These were then filled with rye produced at MGP in Indiana for another two-week secondary maturation, and then bottled as a single barrel release at cask strength, ranging from 104.8 to 108.4 proof depending upon the barrel.

The resulting whiskey is striking and very tasty, although it’s also highly unusual. In my opinion, this whiskey reads as more mole-inspired than pulque-influenced as you sip—there is a high level of spice on the palate from the use of those chili peppers in the pulque, but it’s more of a pleasant tingling heat than one that causes any palate fatigue, and it comes with a notable presence of dark chocolate. The rye’s intrinsic black pepper, vanilla, oak, and maple notes shine through, but these are all augmented (and not overtaken) by the flavors from the finishing casks, making this a thoroughly engaging sipper.

So yes, this is another Boss Hog success, which is mostly the case when it comes to this annual collectible series (the SRP is $600, but previous editions sell for well beyond that on the secondary market). I think this is even better than last year’s Boss Hog Juggernaut, which was aged in Indian-inspired thendai barrels. I mentioned the WhistlePig dichotomy at the start, and while that can be frustrating at times it also elevates the whiskeys that are really good and truly singular. The distillery is surely going to keep releasing its cross-promotional whiskeys, which are mildly amusing (and sometimes not really that good)—past examples include GraveStock wheat whiskey proofed with Liquid Death water, CampStock aged in barrels charred with a Solo stove, a PiggyBack whiskey subjected to G forces in collaboration with Formula 1 Racing, and SummerStock rye/wheat whiskey that was somehow paired with Pit Viper sunglasses.

All of that is fine, so keep on keeping on, WhistlePig—after all, it’s just whiskey, nothing wrong with having a bit of fun. But hopefully (and presumably) there are more ideas in the pipeline to keep Boss Hog as relevant, interesting, and boundary-pushing as it has proven to be over the past decade. The excellent 12th edition, Feather & Flame, will certainly keep you busy tasting and exploring until the next one arrives.

Score: 95