The first batch of High West Rendezvous Rye I reviewed was from batch 11 and is the bottle by which I compare all others when taking notes and reviewing HWRR. The batch 11 came from my days of living in Utah where we were drinking the good stuff from the first batches on, but those days are gone. The stocks of old rye available to Perkins and Co. are dwindling; you can taste it and smell it in these newer batches when compared to the older batches.
That’s not to say that these are terrible, far from it. The current High West releases are still quite good, they just aren’t on the same level as those earlier ones which had a noticeably greater quantity of the 16 year old rye in them – giving them a richer rounder quality. The change over the years has been gradual and I didn’t really notice it till I tasted this one next to the batch 11 before killing it and noticed just how different they are. The younger MGP rye is much more prevalent and hangs heavier than it did a few years ago, but like I said above, still a good whiskey.
High West Rendezvous Rye Info – Batch: 13F24
Region: Kentucky & Indiana, USA
Distiller: MGP & Barton
Bottler: High West
Mashbill: 6yr MGP (95% Rye, 5% Barley) + 16 yr Barton (80% Rye, 10% Corn, 0% Barley)
Cask: New American Oak (charred)
Age: 6 years
ABV: 47%
Batch: 13F24
Bottle: 733
Price: $55
High West Rendezvous Rye Review – Batch: 13F24
EYE
Medium caramel
NOSE
Big bold rye spice howls out of the glass followed by notes of red fruit – like cherries and strawberries. Notes of clove, pepper, caramel and leather lazily waft through while some astringency lounges in the background.
PALATE
Rye and cinnamon flood the palate followed by waves of caramel, vanilla, pepper, wood, leather, clove and mint. It’s a wonderful combination and even though it’s not as rich as the batch 11 it’s still very nice.
FINISH
Long slow fade of rye, leather, wood and caramel.
BALANCE, BODY & FEEL
Perfectly balanced, remarkably smooth and round.
OVERALL
High West Rendezvous Rye – Batch: 13F24 is a good rye whiskey. It’s bold, powerful, spicy, flavorful and aromatic. It goes well in cocktails, drinks nicely neat, there just isn’t anything to not like about it really. This is still among my go-to rye whiskeys.
SCORE: 87/100
