Tastes

We all have a story of a time we went to a bar, bellied up, saw a rare or interesting bottle, and thought "what the hell...?", and asked for a pour. Sometimes this can be in the middle of a busy city, or in my case, in a tiny town in Wyoming that happened to be just over the border of Utah, near the Park City distillery of High West. I was traveling on business, and staying in this tiny little hotel in a town of about 500 people in Wyoming (as one does...), and with nothing to do that evening, went across the street to the nearest restaurant. I like to sit at the bar when I travel by myself because one meets all kinds of interesting folk. Anyways, the whiskey, right. The bar in question had all the usual fare (Beam, Jack, Crown), and I wasn't feeling that, but I spotted a bottle of High West Double Rye in the back, and I asked how much? The bartender shrugged and suggested $5 for a pour (God bless bartenders, particularly ones that don't know spirits all that well), so I happily agreed. This bartender proceeds to pour me what amounted to about four fingers of Double Rye for the low, low price of $5. Score. As to the flavor, I must admit, that I'm not a huge Rye whiskey fan. Many ryes I try are a bit too spicy for me and have a strange, dill taste to them. This isn't one of those ryes. High West represents to me the apex of American whiskey blending, and they've created a superbly smooth rye with complex flavors, including some clove and banana notes, with warm baking spices all the way down. A fine example of Rye done well, reminiscent of some of the great Canadian rye whiskys. Highly recommended.