Playboy's Lucky Bastard Whisky Has an Eye-Popping Price Tag

In 2020, Playboy shuttered its iconic men’s magazine and promptly shifted its focus almost exclusively to consumer products, which included the launch of its own spirits line, Rare Hare. Since then, the brand has worked with Código 1530 to release an añejo tequila and debuted its first bourbon, Rare Hare 1953. Now, the brand is returning to the whisky space with the launch of a 30-year-old Canadian whisky, known as Lucky Bastard, which pays homage to Playboy’s legacy in gaming.

While most of us are familiar with Crown Royal, Canadian whisky has remained somewhat in the background as bourbon, Scotch, and Japanese whisky battled for the brown liquor crown in the States. That was until late 2020 when Jim Murray’s Whisky Bible—just before the sexism scandal—named Alberta Premium Cask Strength the “World Whisky of the Year.” 

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Earlier this year, rye whisky pioneers WhistlePig launched a North American single malt which hailed from the Great White North, giving even more credibility to the style. Rare Hare is continuing to follow that wave of excitement with its own limited-edition offering and has added an extra bit of intrigue by finishing it in Pineau des Charentes barrels.

Pineau des Charentes, a fortified wine from central France, is made from unfermented grape juice and Cognac eau-de-vis that's then matured. It comes in white, rosé, and red varieties, which are generally aged for between 14 months and five years. While the details about Rare Hare Lucky Bastard remain somewhat scarce as far as the exact nature of its maturation and mashbill, we do know that it was finished in those Pineau des Charentes barrels for 120 days.

“This whisky was made with the collaboration of expert blenders, cooperages, and wine makers," says Alex Moore, Rare Hare Spirits’ chief operations officer, who oversaw the finishing process. "We tasted weekly and chased flavors using whatever methods regulations allowed. This required close attention to the weather and changing between sunny or shaded parts of our facilities.

Extensive aging requires particular care to prevent over-oaking of a product, notes Moore. "As with Cognac, aging something for so long takes special attention to design and intention. It’s not a product you throw in a barrel and forget about.”

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On the nose, the whisky offers delicate and sweet aromas of vanilla bean, golden raisin, dandelion, honeycomb, and bee pollen. The palate features browned butter, sugar, serrano chili, beachwood, coconut, anise, Colombian walnut, and gentian root. The finish delivers notes of banana peel, mellow Martinique rhum, and plantains.

Bottled at 44.5 percent ABV, Rare Hare Lucky Bastard doesn’t come cheap at $599. The return on investment includes a very exclusive experience, as just 2,500 bottles have been made available. 

[$599; reservebar.com]