I've covered High West many times before but the quick recap is they are excellent blenders who have managed to source some great whiskey. The crown jewels in those sources include old rye whiskeys that they've acquired from MGPI in Indiana and Barton in Kentucky. To celebrate the opening of their new Blue Sky Ranch distillery in Wanship last year, they released a product that was a blend of both those old stocks. It was limited to a few hundred cases and was sold only at the gift shop but a fellow whiskey friend was kind enough to smuggle a bottle to me. I really like Rendezvous Rye and Bourye which have elements of both the old ryes in this blend so it stands to reason that this should be great.
Aged 16 years; 46% ABV; Batch 15C707; $133
Nose: Spice dominates but there's also a hefty dose of wood sugars. I usually get menthol notes when nosing a rye and that's the case here. The spiciness is really strong.
Taste: Just like the nose the spiciness is very forward. There is also a good amount of sweet wood notes and plenty of oak depth. It certainly tastes every bit of 16 years old. There are touches of old wood that I really like but too much for me to say it's bitter or past its prime. As the finish tapers the intense spice notes fade into lighter baking spices and the sweet notes take on a darker cocoa flavor.
Thoughts: Not only is this an exceptional whiskey but it's also an exceptional rye whiskey. When a lot of rye products these days taste more like high rye bourbons rather than ryes, that's certainly a welcome thing. What really stands out to me here is how spice forward this is and how well that integrates through all the range of flavors of sweet and wood. This is a really well done product and up there with my all time favorite rye whiskeys.
Rating: A-
Note that price is not considered when assigning a rating.
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