High West Distillery Bourye 2025 American Whiskey
(Park City, Utah)

High West Distillery Named Whisky Advocate’s 23rd Annual Distiller of the Year Award

“High West delivers innovative and delicious whiskeys, expands the definition of what it is to be a distiller, and pioneered a successful new paradigm for craft distilling.”

Distillery Notes: 

A blend of bourbon and rye whiskeys aged 10+ years in new charred white American oak barrels.

The mash bills of the whiskeys used in the blend are:

Straight Rye Whiskey: 95% rye, 5% barley malt from MGP

80% rye, 20% malted rye from HWD

Straight Bourbon Whiskey: 75% corn, 21% rye, 4% barley malt from MGP

60% corn, 36% rye, 4% malted barley from MGP

78% corn, 10% rye, 12% malted barley from KY.

Tasting Notes:

The result is a nose of honeycrisp apples, caramelized peaches, waffles with honey butter, bergamot, toasted almonds, sandalwood, wooden chest filled with dark chocolate truffles, the distiller reports. On the palate is maple glazed donuts, salted crème brûlèe, candied orange peel, chicory, English breakfast tea, ginger chews and seasoned oak, before a finish of nectarines with rye spice.

Bottled at 92 proof

Awards/Reviews

Grade: A- (Drinkhacker)

"Bold fruits wafting out of the glass from several feet away. The medley of fruit is reminiscent of some well aged malt whiskeys. Indeed, there’s an always-on but not overwhelming thread of malt and cooked fruit throughout the nose: charred peaches, apricot skins, and burnt citrus peels.

Those bright, sweet aromas soon shift toward robust, barrel-forward bourbon notes, filled with classic pan caramel and more than a hint of campfire smoke. These notes evolve even more a few minutes later: birch bark and a cedar-lined closet meet barrel char and the continued underpinnings of fruit. It’s one of the most captivating noses I can remember on a High West product, and I could hardly stop smelling it.

For all the nose’s complexity, the early palate is easier to pin down. Toffee, milk chocolate, and pecan brittle lead with sweetness. Those elements are balanced by a hint of salinity and dried fruit — think salted, dried apricots. Herbal and vegetal flavors build in the form of endive and licorice root, with just enough residual sweetness to keep things in balance. Taken as a whole, the sip is reminiscent of a smoked maple old fashioned, heavy on orange bitters.

Herbs and toffee meld into sweet mint (and a touch of oak) on the mid-length finish. It’s a nice decrescendo from an intricate palate, with plenty to chew on while contemplating a next sip.

It’s one of the top High West Bouryes I’ve tried, and flat out among the best bourbon+rye blends I’ve sipped in recent memory."