High West Bourye (2018 Release)

Nice light sharpness with sweet finish. Always with a drop of water.

Perfect combo of smooth and frontiersman bourbon

Minty kiss is bonkers. So smooth, sweet, rich, unique...

Reduces to pretty woody and bourbony on warming. But still smooth, sweet, and rich.

Rich, smooth perfection. As smooth and sippable as it gets!

Smooth with a decent amount of the spicy warming feeling

I tried this at Whiskyfest SF but I'd had a few already. Pretty sure I liked it but...here's a sober taste. Nose: Presents as very sweet with a traditional high rye bourbon nose of vanilla, dark caramelized sugars, and very heavy apple. As I get more of the nose I start to get some lightly herbal rye notes and a little bit of fresh baked sourdough. Flavor: More vanilla and dark sugars with quite a bit of oak from all of those age stated whiskeys that were blended in. Some grassy rye notes and a little bit of toasted peanuts in the background. Presents as what it is: a blend of rye and bourbon. Finish: Medium long, gets pretty herbal with quite a bit of mint and black pepper. Some rye spice but not as much as I'd expect. A little drying oaky note towards the very end. Overall this is a nice whiskey with the herbal notes from the rye offset nicely by the sweet nutty ones from the bourbon. Comes across a lot like a Maryland style rye (usually around 51% rye and heavy corn) like Sagamore but the high age does wonders for the complexity and dark sugar notes.