High West Campfire (Discontinued)

What can I say- one of my all time favorites. Nice, slightly sweet oak and bourbon notes upfront with a peaty scotch finish. And it’s from Utah!

I love this on ice! The smoke cools and the oak char comes through. I’m a neat bourbon drinker, but this elevates for me with some cubes.

This whiskey is definitely interesting, but in a good way. Going in, I was looking for a half bottle of something I could sip during the weekend when I was on a trip to Texas. I was down between this and a Texas bourbon. This one caught my eye because, upon reading the back label, I say the potential for a perfect marriage of Scotch and American Whiskey. A few years ago, I did something similar and picked up a small bottle of a peated bourbon. It definitely wasn't my cup of...whiskey, but I appreciated it for the uniqueness. However, this was nothing like that as it just had a bit of peated malted barely from Scotland in the blend of pure American grain. This meant that it was still an American whiskey, but there was a hint of smokiness that made it quite delicious and the perfect thing to have in Texas along with some brisket burnt ends. It has a light and peppery nose with smoky caramel with a hint of walnut. On the palate it's pretty light and friendly at first, similar to Angel's Envy or Jefferson's Ocean. Then, the mid-palate reveals the rye and corn of the whiskey then the finish reveals the peated malt Scotch whisky in all its glory. It's like a bourbon in the mouth and like a Scotch when you swallow. Considering I got my start in whiskey from the super smoky Scotches of Islay, I really respect how High West was able to so perfectly blend a super peaty Scotch into a quintessential American Whiskey and make it work. To be clear, I am judging this based solely on what it is. It isn't trying to be the best American whiskey out there. It's just trying to be something casual and unique that will make you think as you drink it. I will say it completely succeeds in that area. However, the drawback is that it is quite pricey. The average, full-sized bottle runs about $60-70 which basically means it strikes any notion of this being a "casual" whiskey. But, I would purely keep this around to show people something unique. It is a great conversation starter and can really give people the chance to experience something they didn't know existed, and that is where I think this whiskey really shines.

Really interesting whiskey here, much more musty peat smoke presence than I thought there would be which is very nice. Has a bit of that herbal rye quality and fresh dill burst that balances out classic bourbon profile. Getting butterscotch and fresh leather.