This Legendary Pumpkin Ale Also Comes in Whiskey Form

A unique twist to one of America’s most legendary (and legendarily strong) pumpkin beers, Southern Tier’s Pumpking Whiskey captures the signature flavors of their Pumpking Ale and delivers them in whiskey form. 

In 2007, New York’s Southern Tier Brewing significantly upped the ante in the then-emerging pumpkin beer scene with the introduction of their Pumpking Ale. This imperial ale boasts intense but balanced flavors of a slice of pumpkin pie in a bottle and an ABV approaching 9%. Southern Tier Distilling, the brewery’s distilling arm, pushed the pumpkin boundaries again when it spun off the Pumking brand into its own whiskey — the 35% ABV Pumking Pumpkin Whiskey.

Although Pumking Whiskey isn’t made from Pumking beer, Southern Tier bills the spirit as “handcrafted whiskey with natural pumpkin spice flavors and ingredients” — a similar mix to the original brew — intended to draw a direct parallel to the ale fans already know and love.

“We wanted to make something that reinforced our bonds to the brewery and something that would be unique to craft spirits,” Phin DeMink, founder of both Southern Tier Brewing and Distilling, explained. “Pumking Ale is recognized far and away as one of the best pumpkin beers ever made. As that family of beers has grown, it includes an imperial stout, nitro, and a solid list of other flavor variations like the new Cold Brew Coffee Pumking, so it made a lot of sense for the distillery to keep running with those innovations.”

As for what drinkers can expect from Southern Tier’s Pumking Pumpkin Whiskey, the distillery describes it as “pumpkin pie in a (now) shot glass” that is “smooth, delicious and sweet” and “packed with unmistakable aromas of pie spice, buttery cream, pie crust, and culminates with a richness that flavored whiskey drinkers expect.” The brand suggests trying it as a shot, in a cocktail, or on the rocks when it returns each August for the fall.