It’s summer vacation time here at Thirty-One Whiskey (my excuse for the slower-than-usual trickle of new articles), and my wife and I recently visited the (relatively) cooler summer weather in Stowe, Vermont. Better known for its skiing, I was more interested in the beautiful green mountains, picturesque villages, off-season pricing — and most importantly, the WhistlePig Pavilion, located in the heart of the Spruce Peak Resort.
We’ve reviewed enough bottles of WhistlePig Whiskey to realize that they generally make some great stuff. Most of their spirits might originate in Canada, but the end results and the flavors they can pull off aren’t something we can dismiss lightly.
Unfortunately for most, WhistlePig only has one tasting room: located right next to the Simon Pearce glass blowing shop in Quechee, Vermont. I hear your confusion, I also have never heard of it and had no idea where it was until I looked on a map. It’s near Woodstock (but not that Woodstock), way out in the country. Unless you are taking a trip specifically to visit the tasting room, you’ll likely never find yourself there.
Which is what makes this pavilion in Stowe interesting. Nestled in the heart of the resort village, this facility is easily accessible to those who might already be on a family trip for some skiing and looking for a place to indulge in a nice sip of whiskey.
I’ll put the disclaimer up front: we went in the off season, and I’m guessing the quality of service is different when the facility is packed with flocks of down-feathered patrons. But this should still give you a broad idea of what to expect.
The pavilion is located adjacent to the main grassy area of the resort, prominently featured on one end of the oval shaped field. The opposite end has a series of cabanas with gas powered fire pits which look like they would be absolutely cozy on a winter’s evening. The main buildings of the resort are on either sides of that grassy field, making the location easily accessible.
The building fits with the alpine lodge aesthetic of the rest of the resort, with a brick and log cabin construction and exposed wood beams. But my favorite element of the exterior has to be that they have an actual whistle pig sitting on the path on the way to the pavilion.
You enter into the pavilion from the north, immediately greeted by a massive stone fireplace adorned with empty WhistlePig bottles. Inside, the pavilion is significantly smaller than I had expected. It is basically broken out into three wings: a bar to the west, a small standing area for bar patrons to the south, and a section of tables (about a dozen) to the east.
When we arrived during the summer there were only two people on staff: one waiter and one bartender. We were invited to seat ourselves, and then waited for what seemed like a good half hour to have our drink orders taken. It was so long I thought I had misunderstood and went to the bar to try and order.
There’s really only two reasons you’d go to this pavilion (besides the vibes): whiskey and BBQ. And they have both.
On the whiskey side of the menu, they have a selection of WhistlePig bottles from which to choose, as well as flights available. I picked a flight that included three selections that I had never tried before, and I found myself rather more impressed by the aged rye than I had expected. I don’t think it was worth the price they were asking by the ounce, but I put it on the list to try and find elsewhere.
One thing I didn’t quite like about the tasting flight was the glassware. It came on an engraved wooden stave that looked nifty and made a great first impression, but the whiskey was poured into plastic tasting glasses. I could understand plastic glasses at a high-volume establishment where people queue for multiple testers of spirits, but here this just felt cheap and out of place.
Moving on to the BBQ, what we tried was pretty good. I had the mopped and shredded pork shoulder, and I think they did a pretty good job with the meat. All of it is cooked on Traeger grills (which we have discussed here before and are my favorites), and the flavor was actually pretty good.
That’s not to say that it’s great BBQ — in fact, I’d say this is on the better side of mediocre. That could possibly be because this was prepared in the past and re-heated (I didn’t see any Trager grills running on the day we were there) which killed some of the flavor. I’m guessing that improves as they increase throughput during the peak of the season, with fresh BBQ on the daily.
My biggest complaint here as a Texan at heart: there was no brisket.
In my experience with the WhistlePig Pavilion, I think it’s a great “side quest” experience for those who are already staying on-site at the resort, but I wouldn’t travel out of my way to visit it.
It seems like in the winter, the resort is a great place for families to get together and hang out, skiing all day and enjoying s’mores all night. In that spirit, this is a good alternative for those who might want to take a break and do something different. It’s a unique feature to an otherwise fairly predictable ski resort experience.
Which is all great if you are on-property. But for those staying down the street, there’s nothing here that is worth actually getting in the car to see. Parking is a pain in the butt and difficult to find (unless you valet your car at the hotel or park at the bottom of the slope across the street and take the cable car across). It’s a hike, and an expensive one at that. You’d likely be able to find a bottle of WhistlePig in town and have a much more cost effective level of fun yourself compared to what you’d spend here.
And for those drawn by the promise of BBQ, I’d say that while it was good, it’s not something I would recommend dragging the whole family to experience.
If you coincidentally find yourself at the Spruce Peak Lodge or within walking distance and looking for a spot for a meal, I’d say this is a solid option. But I wouldn’t make a whole trip out of it.
WhistlePig Pavilion at Spruce Peak
Cost: $$$
Overall Rating: 3/5
While the building fits with the theme of the resort, the service was slow, the whiskey was expensive, and the BBQ was only slightly above average.