High West American Prairie Bourbon

Really light on the nose. Smooth on the initial taste light burn in the back and tongue has a lasting burn but aftertaste is great.

Nose is maple, sugar, salt, fresh dough. Tangerine. Possibly some watermelon. Strawberry. Yeast. Vanilla. Overall vibe = fruit wine. Body is watermelon, walnuts, more sugar. Orange is there. Strawberry sticks around. Super sweet up front, nutty in the rear. Giggety. Finish is sawdust, bit of cinnamon. Bubble gum. Mint. Bit of the tangerine comes back. There is a temptation when drinking whiskies that have hints of youth to pound them down. This was my intent with this bottle, and I’m glad I gave it the nerd treatment. This was shockingly good, and I don’t know why I undervalued it to date. I think I had mentally labeled High West as a rye brand, and although their ryes are good, I think this beats any of their main-line ryes. To me, this is right up there with Four Roses and 1792 as an affordable, delicious lower shelf bourbon (let’s say: shelf 2 out of 5). Bonus fun fact: this is apparently no longer being bottled as “American Prairie Bourbon” as of January 2023 (if not earlier). The new product, “High West Bourbon” is allegedly the same bourbon with a new label, so of course I bought one and did a side by side. Y’all know how I feel about science. For my bottles, the High West Bourbon is a noticeably inferior product. I would describe it as a flatter, less flavorful version of my American Prairie. However: AP is described as a blend of bourbons up to 13 years in age. A lot can happen in 13 years. I would be willing to accept that a very talented group of whiskey blenders used the same methodology on *similar* stocks of bourbon for both of these blends with the intent of making the same product. The deviation in the two bottles is within the margin of error of reasonable deviation within a product line. I’ve had two different bottles of Rock Hill Farms that were more dissimilar than these two. I buy that these two bourbons are the same product, and I hope that some of the new High West Bourbon blends will be as tasty as this 375 mL American Prairie.