High West Bourye (2015 Release) Review

Like many other startup distilleries, High West is on the “sell sourced whiskey while our own product comes of age plan”. Unlike a lot of other startups though, High West is very transparent about the source of their whiskey. One such whiskey in their portfolio is Bourye, named as such for being a blend of straight bourbon and straight rye. In late 2014 / early 2015, High West released another version of Bourye, this time replacing the Bourbon component that was once Four Roses with whiskey sourced from MGP. Here's the full breakdown per the High West website:

• 9-year-old straight bourbon - mash bill: 75% corn, 21% rye, 4% barley malt - source: MGP/LDI/Seagrams Indiana
• 10-year-old straight rye whiskey - mash bill: 95% rye, 5% barley malt - source: MGP/LDI/Seagrams Indiana
• 16-year-old straight rye whiskey - mash bill: 95% rye, 5% barley malt - source: MGP/LDI/Seagrams Indiana
• 16-year-old straight rye whiskey - mash bill: 80% rye, 10% corn, 10% malt - Source: Barton Distillery, Bardstown KY

Their complete transparency is one of the many reasons whiskey geeks praise High West but really it’s their skill at blending quality stock that make people love them.

No Age Statement; 46% ABV; Batch 15B09; $80

Nose: The nose has a fruit cake like sweetness with more bourbon than rye influence along with a pretty heavy dose of wood. If I dig in I get a little menthol spice note but it’s subdued. It smells on the old side.

Taste: The initial taste is a lot like the nose. Typical bourbon sweetness of caramel and vanilla up front with the woodiness in the back. You can really taste the older aged whiskey components here as it tapers off in the finish with some slightly bitter/tannic spiced tea. The one surprising thing though is how subdued the spice level is here - it’s only in the finish that I get a light menthol/clove tingle.

Thoughts: Really good stuff with a nice balance of sweet, older wood, and spice. High West continues to flex their muscles at being master blenders but it’s not hurting them that the MGP and Barton base components are already stellar whiskeys on their own. The only real fault I can find here is the price is a bit of an issue. At $80 I am not sure the quality to price ratio is the best and honestly I’d prefer Rendezvous Rye which is around $25 cheaper over this. All in all it’s a easy to find, unique, and enjoyable whiskey that is a nice change of pace from most everything else out there on the shelves.

Rating: B / B+