Bourbon-glazed pork is a thing that people have been doing for a long time, and it's a thing we mostly wish they'd stop doing (in fact, it made it into our Top 5 Things Restaurants Should Never Serve Again post). But perhaps we can get our whiskey-flavored pork another way in the future: Templeton distillery in Iowa, makers of rye whiskey, are raising their own hogs, with the hope that when slaughtered, the resulting pork might take on some of the flavor characteristics of the whiskey. 

The Templeton Rype Pork Project is in the process of raising 25 Duroc pigs, feeding them a special feed that incorporates the dry spent grain from the whiskey-making process. It's hoped that this feed will give the pork some of the flavor of the whiskey. 
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The pigs were born in January, and are being raised on a farm close to the distillery. They're being cared for by Dr. Mark Bertram – Dr. of what, you ask? Dr. of swine nutrition! That's right, you can get a doctorate of swine nutrition, and Dr. Mark Bertram has one. The project's website has the pigs' feeding schedule available for download if you're so inclined. 

The pigs will be slaughtered when they're about 210 pounds, in June or July. If you're interested, you can request one of these pigs. It's doubtful you'll get one – there's a fair amount of interest in the project from chefs, etc. – but if all goes well, this won't be the last batch of whiskey pigs raised by Templeton. 


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