Origin: Utah (USA)
Type: Rye Whiskey
Strength: 46%ABV
Ageing casks: American Virgin Oak
Chillfiltered: No
Added coloring: No
Owner: High West Distillery
Average price: € 30.00
Official website: www.highwest.com
Vote: 87/100
The first distillery to return to Utah since Prohibition, High West Distillery was founded by David Perkins and his wife Jane in 2006 and began distilling the following year.
Coming from studying biochemistry, Perkins was struck by the process of whiskey making during a visit to Makers’ Mark, which was very similar in process to the business he was in at the time.
Starting with a small facility with a small production (equipped with a saloon) in Park City, growing in fame and popularity over the years, they established a second distillery in Wanship, also in Utah, in 2015.
Production remains small, with some of the supply coming from MGP Distillery.
Their core portfolio includes the present Double Rye!, American Praire Bourbon, Rendezvous Rye and Campfire, plus several limited and special editions.
The whiskey I will taste today (from a 2020 batch) is, as you might guess, a blend of two rye whiskies, aged for a minimum of three years and a maximum of seven, one consisting of 5% barley malt from MGP and 95% rye, the other of 20% locally malted rye and 80% rye of unspecified origin.
The exclamation mark at the end of the name indicates the intention to create the world’s spiciest rye, recommended for blending but also for neat.
Tasting notes
Amber in the glass.
Cinnamon and ginger biscuits (like the Ikea ones), molasses, hay and a touch of liquorice come immediately to the nose, in a very pleasant warm and spicy combination. The substratum of aromas is very herbaceous, almost balsamic, but with the soul of a Nordic Christmas cake that gives it substance. Digging in, you find fruit such as plums, cooked quince, mango and a touch of blood orange. Over time, the aromas become richer and thicker.
And the spicy and herbaceous components dominate the palate, with cinnamon leading the charge of anise, dill, pine needles and hay. The alcohol content is not particularly high but it does make itself felt, the aromas stand out and warm up, slipping oily and compact, with liquorice, cooked apples, orange, lemon peel and a drop of honey. Slight hint of freshly cut wood in the background.
The finish is quite long, with liquorice, cinnamon, used teabag, aniseed and a hint of chocolate.
I admit I have little experience with ryes, so take my impressions with even more relativism than usual, but this whiskey goes down a treat: rich, warm, smooth, spicy… A full and satisfying dram, dangerously inviting to follow glass after glass. And at a price that to call it a bargain is an understatement.
And I tried it in summer, in winter I’d finish the bottle in an evening…
Other perspectives:
The Scotch Noob