Tasting notes

nose

light caramel, sweet vanilla and a little lemon zest

palate

honey nougat, candy corn and buttery cornbread biscuits, earthy underneath, with a bit of spice

finish

caramel apple and pecan pie linger, fading to vanilla

Mash bill

A blend of straight bourbons from at least two recipes: 75% corn, 21% rye and 4% malted barley, and 84% corn, 8% rye and 8% malted barley. The first is MGP's high-rye bourbon recipe from Indiana; High West does not name where the second comes from, or the other bourbons in the blend. The distillery builds the blend on high-rye recipes to give it an earthy edge with a little spice under the corn sweetness.

Why it's craft

High West was founded in 2006 by David and Jane Perkins, who started with a 250-gallon still in a former livery stable in Park City, Utah. This bottle is a blend of bourbons High West did not distill: one recipe comes from MGP in Indiana, and the sources of the rest are not disclosed. It is bottled without chill filtration or carbon treatment, and High West has been owned by Constellation Brands since 2016.