WhistlePig collaborates with John Cleese

Monty Python member John Cleese has done something completely different as he teams up with whiskey brand WhistlePig to launch its new single malt, The Badönkådonk.

Cleese, known for his roles and writing on Fawlty Towers and A Fish Called Wanda, as well as on Python, is no stranger to an advert, having previously done commercials for the likes of Specsavers, Schweppes tonic, and even the Liberal Democrats – but this time he has turned his absurdist hand to spirits.

Appearing in the promotional video for WhistlePig announcing the launch of its 25-year-old single malt, Cleese describes himself as “a bit of an expert on superior single malt whiskies”, before questioning how the Vermont-based brand “could claim to craft a proper whisky when they can’t even spell it properly – it doesn’t have an ‘e’.”

The advert itself takes inspiration from Terry Gilliam’s Monty Python animations, including having a comically long cartoon arm deliver the whiskey to Cleese.

In a press release, Cleese said of the product: “I thought it was rather cheeky when I learned that some colonials were trying to ape the Scotches that have from the beginning of time been crafted in Scotchland, and with a name of such sublime ridiculousness – WhistlePig 25: The Badönkådonk! That doesn’t sound very Scotchish, does it?”

However, Cleese revealed that sampling The Badönkådonk didn’t leave him pining for the lochs.

“When I tasted it, my whole world changed. My very DNA was instantly revised, my taste buds danced the bagpipe, and I instantly became spiritually advanced.”

The Badönkådonk was aged for 25 years in American oak, before being finished in ex-Cabernet Sauvignon barrels from Silver Oak, in California’s Alexander Valley, a process which Cleese joked was “fatuous marketing drivel”.

Meghan Ireland, head blender at WhistlePig, explained that having previously aged The Béhôlden in its own well-aged rye barrels, the company set its “sights on the best of California wine country”, with the choice of barrel lending notes of cedar, plum and cherry.

The Badönkådonk has an RRP of US$1,999.