High West Bourye Limited Sighting Blended Whiskey

VITALS:
- $80
- 92 Proof
- Min. 10 Years

While visiting the High West Distillery, I enjoyed what they called the "Reserve Flight," consisting of some of their more top shelf whiskeys. Included in that flight was their most recent batch of Bourye. I enjoyed it so much that after my tasting was finished, I went straight to the gift shop and grabbed a bottle to pop open and enjoy as soon as I got back to our resort.

Bourye is a blend of aged bourbons and ryes, the youngest of which is a minimum of 10 years old. This 2017 Release is a blend of the following:

- A blend of straight Bourbon and Rye whiskeys aged from 10 to 14 years.
- Straight Rye Whiskey: 95% rye, 5% barley malt from MGP & 53% rye, 37% corn, 10% barley malt from Barton Distillery
- Straight Bourbon Whiskey: 75% corn, 21% rye, 4% barley malt from MGP

Last year it was a blend of whiskeys sourced exclusively from MGP. It's nice to see some Barton rye thrown in there as well this year. By the way, as a bit of an aside, I love the transparency of High West, telling you exactly where their whiskey comes from, as well as the mashbills.

This blended whiskey is absolutely delicious from start to finish! The nose was molasses, a hint of oak and just a touch of the cinnamon spice from the rye influence. It come across as sweet and with absolutely no burn.

On the palate this is one of the best whiskeys I've had in a while. I immediately notice a delicious mix of molasses, caramel and light vanilla. It also has a light woodiness to it, however, not such that it makes it dry or gives it that bite that you sometimes get with older bourbons.

There is also a decent undercurrent of nuttiness to it, but a sweeter nut flavor, like a mix of cashews and almonds. Each sip seemed to just coat my mouth, and that's where the sweet nuttiness seemed to stick around long after each swallow. On the finish there is a light spice from the rye, but this is very much a bourbon-forward blend as far as the flavor profile goes. While I love a spicy whiskey, this whiskey is so enjoyable that I didn't even find myself yearning for that spicy finish.

Normally, with each pour I have of any given bourbon I'll make it a point to take some time to see what I notice, maybe even jot a note or two in my phone for reference later. The best note I have for this whiskey is that I have very minimal notes. That's because I enjoyed this so much that I couldn't help but go back for pour after pour (and also because I was on vacation when I enjoyed it). This bottle did not last long at all, and that's the best compliment I can give it.

Grade: A