Distillery: High West Distillery
Proof: 192
Age: Blend with age ranging from 2-13 years
Mashbill: Blend between MGP (75% corn, 21% rye, & 4% malted barley) & an undisclosed source (84% corn, 8% rye, 8% malted barley)
BACKGROUND: High West American Prairie Bourbon is an ode to the American Prairie Reserve, famous for being the largest wildlife preservation group in the continental United States. The image on the bottle is the Pronghorn Antelope, known for its speed & how far they migrate year to year. Unfortunately the Pronghorn Antelope is close to extinction due to habitat destruction. High West proudly donates 10% of all after tax profits from the sales of these bottles to the American Prairie Reserve.
NOSE: A mild nose up front, giving off light scents of orange, molasses, and brown sugar at first. After swirling the glass around a few times, notes of sweet caramel and vanilla start to show with a light ethanol bite (21/25)
PALATE: The palate on this threw me for a loop, with an extremely thin mouthfeel, the whiskey quickly dances around your tastebuds, leaving much less flavor compared to other High West Products. After a few sips, notes of vanilla, and caramel show with a light dark chocolate taste. Although the taste isn't the most robust, it is quite enjoyable.(29/40)
FINISH: The finish was definitely the highlight of this expression, leaving you with delightful sweet notes of orange zest, caramel, vanilla, and dark chocolate malt, accompanied by the perfect amount of spice to tie it all together. (21/25)
VALUE: For $35 this is a great bottle to try out when you are starting to get into whiskey, smooth, tasty, and not overbearing with spice or heat. (7/10)
Overall: 78/100
FINAL THOUGHTS: I wasn’t a fan at first, but as I got to the bottom of the glass the flavor really grew on me, leaving me wanting more when I took that last sip! This is the perfect bottle to give to a friend or have out for the casual whiskey drinker.
Slightly Better Whiskey: Weller Special Reserve
Equal Whiskey: Blue Spirits Bourbon Whiskey
Slightly Worse Whiskey: 4 Roses Small Batch
Scoring Legend:
96-100: The perfect dram, juice of the gods
90-95: Near perfect, truly incredible whiskey
85-89: Amazing whiskey, will always try to keep a backup bottle of this
80-84: Very good, some minor flaws here or there
75-79: Good, quite enjoyable to drink, Will try and keep a bottle on the shelf
70-74: Solid, wouldn’t go out of my way to get this
60-69: Decent, would offer this up to non whiskey drinkers
50-59: Not my cup of tea
Below 50: Give away