High West is clearly coming into its own.
Exhibit A is the first bottled-in-bond release from the Utah-based distillery, a respected blending house since the company was founded by Dave Perkins in 2006. Most whiskeys in the High West portfolio are made from a hybrid of sourced and distillery-made juice. Double Rye, and American Prairie Bourbon are examples. But High West has also been releasing 100% distillery made whiskey since 2019, according to Distilling Manager Isaac Winters.
“We’ve been experimenting with distillery only whiskeys since we opened in 2006,” says Winters. “The first was our High West Silver Oat and OMG Rye, but we never made them publicly available. It wasn’t until 2019 when we came up with our first consumer facing distillery only expression, High Country Single Malt. It’s been an annual release since then. We also added Midwinter Night’s Dram to our distillery only annual releases, but in 2023 we made it more nationally available given its popularity.”
This Bottled-In-Bond expression is a limited edition, straight rye whiskey also produced exclusively at the Park City, Utah-based distillery. High West’s latest drop is bottled at 50% ABV with a suggested price of $80. Click HERE for information on what makes a whiskey Bottled-In-Bond.
What’s In The Bottle?
Here, we have a straightforward pot still rye distilled in the second half of 2018. This expression is made from a mash of 80% unmalted and 20% malted rye and, as noted, meets the criteria required as a bottled-in-bond whiskey.
How Does It Taste?
Company tasting notes promise aromas of toasted brioche with spiced pear jam, oatmeal raisin cookies, toffee, lavender, and ginger. On the palate, expect cooked apples, sage, sugar cookies, nutmeg, and cinnamon, with a touch of cacao and juniper. The dram concludes with coconut caramel and honey.
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