High West: Bourbon (USA: Bourbon: 46% ABV)
Visual: Lightly browned gold. Fast, thick streaks come from the spirit.
Nose: Honey. Thick. Rye crackers. Crusty sour dough. Pencil shavings. Light greenery. Cake sponge. Lightly peppery. With water is similar but smoother
Body: Thick. Lightly oily. Alcohol warmth. Honey. Vanilla custard. Rye crackers. Apricot syrup. Water removes alcohol feel. Light yogurt hard chunks touch.
Finish: Apricot syrup. Golden syrup. Vanilla. Honey. Rye crackers. Black pepper. Water make light touch of yogurt hard chunks and sour dough.
Conclusion: This is a very drinkable dram of bourbon, that I really like as it takes two of the big ends of the traditional flavor sets of bourbon and pushes them up bit so they really show in contrast to each other.
The first thing I noticed is a slightly heavier rye load than I get in a lot of bourbons. Not huge, but enough to bring the rye crackers, pepper character and kind of sour dough air out so you can really sense the rye input.
As a fan of straight rye, but oft looking for something a bit more easy drinking at times, I found this a good to look to start from.
On the other side there is a big sweetness. This feels less … rustic … for lack of a better word than a lot of bourbon. That kind of middle weight is replaced instead by big honey sweetness,a touch of fruit syrups that then give way to that bigger peppery rye kick that seems more fun in contrast.
It may not be to everyone’s taste, but I really enjoy it. I am envious of the USA where this seems super affordable, here it is not expensive, but definitely not the cheap price I see when looking across the pond. I could see it being a cupboard essential at USA prices.
Any which way I really enjoy it. Easy to drink, sweet flavor with lovely rye depth. While it is not up there with say, Blantons or such, it is far cheaper than them and a great mid level easy drinking bourbon to have a great time with.
Background: This was one I tried at a Dark Horse tasting and was quite taken by it, so I later grabbed a bottle for myself from The Whisky Shop. Googling suggests this is a rebranding of High West’s American Prairie Bourbon, a blend of several different distilleries bourbons, thought it sounds like High West have started producing their own spirit as well. The website says it is “Straight Bourbon Whiskey: 75% corn, 21% rye, 4% barley malt from MGP; 84% corn, 8% rye, 8% malted barley; Other whiskey components are undisclosed due to contractual reasons“. So make of that what you will. Music wise went with Sophie: Oil of Every Pearl’s Un-insides for some lovely backing tunes.
