Sunday, January 5, 2014

Exam-o-Dram Highwest Rocky Mountain Rye 21 year

In recent years rye has become quite popular to the point that rye goes missing from the shelves for period of time; e.g. Wild Turkey Rye.  Heaven Hill only mash's rye twice a month.  MGP/LDI pumps out a good bit of rye as do the Canadians and I think they'll have to continue to do so.

Highwest Distillery started back in 2004 by David Perkins and back then he was sourcing rye and bourbon from some pretty good sources.

I recently was able to acquire 9 bottles of HW Rocky Mountain Rye 21 year (Batch 10).  While not necessarily a fan of uber old bourbons, older rye's can be quite good and this rye offering is no exception.  From the Highwest website, they state that Rocky Mountain Rye "...is very rare whiskey aged in USED barrels. All were aged on the lower three tiers of the rickhouse. Mash bill is 53% rye, 37% corn, 10% barley malt." Technically, this is not a rye whiskey since used cooperage was employed and Highwest doesn't market this whiskey as such but says it's "whiskey distilled from rye mash".  Fine by me.

For the age one would expect a deeper color but this whiskey is a light golden color reminiscent of low proof Scotch.  The nose is rye forward with mild spice, mint and a nice oak backbone.  Entry is soft and flavorful with a profile consisting of oak, cinnamon, nut and a touch of anise.  Mid palate is somewhat candied with a cream finish.  The whiskey really hangs on the palate offering up a very pleasant finish of sweet vanilla and cereal grain that lasts quite some time.  

Truthfully, this is a very approachable whiskey, easy to drink with a brilliant flavor profile.  This is not a one dimensional whiskey but offers layers of flavors from start to finish. 

I hate to say it but I don't think you'll find these on your local retail shelf.  A quick check and I found one bottle on the German Ebay site for $244.

8 comments:

  1. I'm more curious about that bottle in the background that looks like a KBD export to Japan. Very Old St. Nick it looks like. Can you tell us more? Thanks.

    Joe

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    1. Joe - good eye. That is indeed the Japanese export 17 year Very Old St. Nick Rye. I have not opened the bottle yet so can't offer any notes on how it tastes. One day it will be opened for a special occasion or something.

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  2. Greta review and what an awesome grab!. I have a bottle of Batch 1 at home I recently opened. It's fantastic stuff, but I haven't seen it since i moved out of UT except in 375ml format and those have all run about $90+

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  3. Josh - I envy your batch 1. I would be interesting to line up the various batch releases for side by side tasting. Thankfully, I didn't break out the wallet for these bottles but traded with another enthusiast.

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  4. I kinda think this IS rye whiskey. It's just not STRAIGHT rye whiskey.

    Nice haul regardless!

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    1. You're right Sam....Straight Rye is what I meant.

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  5. just found a few 750 ml bottles on the shelf. batch 9. can't wait to open one. it warms my heart that a utah distillery gets so much love

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    1. And I recently acquired a Batch 7. Another one I picked up recently is Double Rye.....great blend of a young 2 year and a mature 16 year. Very enjoyable.

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