Sips & Sites & Bites

Cary Bringle, the barbecue pitmaster that opened his Peg Leg Porker whiskey brand nearly a decade ago, has created a spirits empire that encompasses the culinary and drinking world.

Peg Leg Porker has garnered many accolades in bourbon, as well as in barbecue. 

In fact, Peg Leg Porker’s Tennessee Straight Bourbon Whiskey recently won this year’s Tasting Alliance Triple Still Award, which recognizes the whiskey’s accolades in San Francisco, Singapore, and New York, as it earned Double Gold medals across all three competitions. 

Peg Leg Porker is one of only three other Triple Still winners in the country.

And, Bringle’s back story reads like a script. He beat cancer at 17, spent years on the competitive barbecue circuit, then ultimately opened his restaurant Peg Leg Porker in 2013. 

The past decade, Bringle’s turned Peg Leg Porker into a full-fledged brand, expanding into a retail clothing and a food products company and becoming the first pitmaster to establish his own bourbon distillery. 

So how does he do it? What’s his secret sauce? 

Carey Bringle recently visited with us at Sips&Sites&Bites to talk about the world of bourbon and barbecue.

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Sips&Sites&Bites: “What was the true inspiration behind starting your own whiskey line?

Carey Bringle: “I have always been a bourbon fan and worked a lot with Jim Beam over the years. I wanted to start my own label and bourbon is a natural pairing with barbecue. In 2014, the opportunity presented itself to buy a batch of juice … so I developed a signature finishing process with hickory charcoal and the bourbon brand was started.”

SSB: What came first, the booze or the barbecue?

Bringle: “Barbecue came first. I have been cooking barbecue for more than 35 years.” 

SSB: What is the secret behind a great, boozy barbecue sauce?

Bringle: “If you are going to use bourbon in a barbecue sauce, the secret is really like any other ingredient … balance and moderation are key.”

SSB: How do you infuse the taste of barbecue into your whiskey?

Bringle: “I developed a signature process where we filter the bourbon through hickory charcoal after we de-barrel it. This provides just a hint of smokiness without being overbearing at all.” 

SSB: Is there a perfect food pairing with your whiskey?

Bringle: “Barbecue goes perfectly with our bourbon.”

SSB: What makes Peg Leg Porker stand out from all the other whiskeys infused with various products?

Bringle: “Our bourbon is a great bourbon that is not infused, but rather filtered through hickory charcoal. We were the first to do this to my knowledge.” 

SSB: How has your brand grown since those early days?

Bringle: “We understand the business a little better these days and have used that knowledge to expand in the market in the right way. Turtle wins the race. We are not trying to flip a company but rather build a lasting brand.”

SSB: Where do you see Peg Leg Porker in five years?

Bringle: “In five years, I hope that we will be in all 50 states and have a new destination distillery campus.”

SSB: What do you prefer, 20 hours babysitting a barbecue fire or the intense day of distilling?

Bringle: “I would say 20 hours babysitting a barbecue fire while enjoying some great bourbon.”

To find out more about Peg Leg Porker, check out https://peglegporker.com.