High West Bottled in Bond Rye

I’d like to thank High West for providing this review sample with no strings attached.

It has been a long damn time since we took a look at any products from High West around here. And it’s not because I didn’t like them when we last looked. No, this has to do with shelf placement.

The liquor store that I frequent most often is a small place packed to the gills with wonderful libations. It has narrow aisles and high shelves. High West sits on the top shelf at the end of the whiskey aisle. Below it are Wild Turkey and Russell’s Reserve, 1792, and Four Roses. Good company if you can get it—well, if you are a normal consumer.

I am far from normal.

I go in looking for things to write about, and, in my mind, that end of the aisle is filled with wonderful things to drink, but nothing to write about, so High West tends to get forgotten about on my local shopping trips. This is really too bad because they make some delicious whiskeys, and some of them are even decently priced at around $30 for a 750. So when their PR person reached out to me offering me a taste of their first ever Bottled in Bond Whiskey, I jumped at the opportunity to reexamine the offerings from this company that I had neglected. And boy, am I glad I did.

But before I get ahead of myself, let’s run down a few interesting items they included in their press release. This bottled-in-bond whiskey is four years old, having been barreled in the Fall 2018 distilling season. As a bonded whiskey, it is 100° proof. The mashbill is made up of 80% rye and 20% malted rye. It was distilled by High West in Wanship, UT. It was released in February 2024 and will be available “across the nation” for a suggested retail price of $79.99 (though at the time of writing this, it is currently sold out on the High West website).

So, onto the most important part: how does it taste?

High West Bottled in Bond Rye

Purchase Info: This was sent by the producer for review purposes. The suggested retail price is $79.99 for a 750 mL bottle.

Price per Drink (50 ml): $5.33

Details: 50% ABV. Batch: 23L19 H218. Mashbill: 80% rye, 20% malted rye.

Nose: Honey, vanilla, cedar, and mint.

Mouth: Cedar, allspice, vanilla, honey, mint, and oak.

Finish: Medium length and warmth with notes of cinnamon, mint, and oak.

Thoughts: Bright and vibrant with good spice. This is delicious. It reminds me of an MGP rye with depth and a nutty under current. And even though I’ve long thought that I didn’t like malted rye in my whiskey, I really like this one. It must be that I only disliked the ones that I tasted first. This is why I try not to write off an entire ingredient’s usage. It also makes a killer Sazerac cocktail. Though at $80 per bottle, this probably won’t be going into many cocktails in most peple’s homes. All in all, I really like this one.

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Penelope Tokaji Cask Finish Rye

I’d like to thank ByrnePR and Penelope Bourbon for providing this review sample with no strings attached.

Fun story. Until I sat down to write this, I had no idea tonight’s whiskey was a rye whiskey. I hadn’t read the press release yet when I did the tasting on Saturday afternoon, the bottle was in another room, and the company is referred to as Penelope Bourbon. Toss in a healthy dose of not paying attention, and in my small, smooth brain, that meant that the whiskey I was tasting was a bourbon.

My original thoughts on this were weird. I liked it but felt that the “bourbon” would be divisive among people who were expecting typical bourbon flavors. I really gave a lot of credit to the influence of the finishing cask in the flavor profile. All in all, it made me feel like a real dumbass when I started reading the press release at the start of my research tonight. Especially when I read, “Distilled in Lawrenceburg, Indiana, aged eight years and bottled at 106 proof, its two-grain mash bill consists of 95% rye and 5% malted barley. The rye whiskey features…”

That was a pretty big hint that I had no idea what was going on. So, let’s start over and learn together, shall we?

The Penelope Bourbon Tokaji Cask Finish Rye Whiskey (see why I was confused?) is an eight-year-old version of MGP’s 95% rye recipe. According to Whisky Advocate, after aging for eight years, it was then finished in Hungarian tokaji wine barrels for an additional eight and a half weeks before being bottled at 106° proof.

So you might be asking, what the heck is tokaji wine? I know I was. Based only on the name, I thought it was a Japanese drink. The spelling looks very Japanese. But no, it is Hungarian. The style is named for the Tokaj wine region, which is spread across the border of Slovakia and Hungary. The region is known for its sweet wines, primarily those made from grapes that have been infected by the Botrytis cinerea fungus. If the infected grapes are treated correctly after infection, they can produce a sweet wine with very concentrated flavors.

Ok. Now that we know what this is (for real this time in my case), let’s get on to how it tastes, shall we?

Penelope Tokaji Cask Finish

Purchase Info: This sample was provided by the producer for review purposes. The suggested retail price is $89.99.

Price per Drink (50 mL): $6.00

Details: 8 years old. 53% ABV. Tokaji Cask finished. Mash bill: 95% rye, 5% malted barley.

Nose: Honey, spearmint, oak, sandalwood, and a faint bubblegum note.

Mouth: Sweet and spicy with floral sandalwood, cinnamon, honey, and oak.

Finish: Sweet, warm, and of medium length. Notes of honey, oak, spearmint, and cinnamon.

Thoughts: This is a really nice twist on the traditional MGP 95% rye flavor profile. It is much sweeter, but still spicy and delicious. We all know by now that the 95% rye from MGP is one of my favorite styles of rye whiskey, so it is not surprising that I really am enjoying this. The cask finish seems to amplify the sweetness, add a very nice mouthfeel and bring out even more cinnamon and sandalwood notes than are normally in the base rye. Bottle that at over 100° proof and, well, “chef’s kiss” is all I can say about it. It’s quite tasty.

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Union Horse Reunion Rye Barrel Proof & Union Horse Rolling Standard

I’d like to thank the producer and their PR team for providing this review sample with no strings attached.

Tuesday we revisited the bourbon and rye whiskeys from Union Horse Distillery in the Kansas suburbs of Kansas City. We’d first covered those whiskeys over seven years ago, way back in 2016. Tonight, we take a look a couple of the items that they’ve released since that time.

The first is a barrel-proof version of the Reunion Rye that we looked at on Tuesday. The other is a unique mixture of their new American Single Malt and a Wheated Bourbon. It is called Rolling Standard and here is what they have to say about it:

Rolling Standard Midwestern Four-Grain Whiskey is a very interesting approach to creating a four-grain. Instead of using all four grains together in the same mash, Union Horse Distilling distilled a wheated Bourbon and distilled an American Single Malt, aged both for five years, and then blended them together. After the blending process, the whiskey is then returned to those barrels another 18 months together before being blended again as a small batch. It is non-chill filtered and bottled at 92°.

We have a lot of tasting notes to get through tonight so I’m going to jump right into those. First we will be taking a look at the Barrel Strength Reunion Rye Whiskey followed by Rolling Standard.

Union Horse Barrel-Strength Reunion Straight Rye Whiskey

Purchase Price: This review sample was provided at no cost by the producer for review purposes. The suggested price is $57.

Price per Drink (50 mL): $3.80

Details: 100% Rye. 60.7% ABV. 4-5 years old. Batch 12. Barreled at 110° proof

Nose: Mint, cinnamon, and cedar.

Mouth: Cedar, mint, ginger, clove, cinnamon, and chocolate.

Finish: Warm and long with mint, cedar, cinnamon, and ginger.

Thoughts: I really enjoyed the standard Reunion Rye and I like this barrel proof version even more. It’s the same, just dialed up to eleven. It is really damn good! It makes me wish it was distributed here in Minnesota (though next time I’m in Kansas City, I may see about bringing one back).

Union Horse Rolling Standard

Purchase Price: This review sample was provided at no cost by the producer for review purposes. The suggested price is $33.

Price per Drink (50 mL): $2.20

Details: 46% ABV. Batch 21. 18 months old. Mash Bill: 45% corn, 20% wheat, 20% malted barley and 15% rye.

Nose: Butterscotch, cinnamon, chocolate, and roasted peanuts.

Mouth: Very malt forward with caramel and cinnamon.

Finish: Medium warmth and length. The notes remind me of a snickers bar, chocolate, caramel, malt and peanuts.

Thoughts: I like this one, but I like it a lot more as a cocktail ingredient than I do out of a tasting glass. It has a lot of good qualities, but doesn't quite align with my palate when neat. That said, I really enjoy the "Snickers Bar" finish. But the malt-forward notes in the mouth aren't quite for me. All-in-all, if you like a whiskey that has malted milk style malt notes in the mouth and a candy bar finish, you should certainly pick this up if you are in a market where it is sold. It makes a killer old-fashioned so I will be using mine for that.

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REVISITED: Union Horse Reunion Rye & Union Horse Reserve Bourbon

I’d like to thank the producer and their PR team for providing this review sample with no strings attached.

It has been two thousand six hundred and forty-four days since I last reviewed Union Horse Reunion Rye and Reserve Bourbon. Just over seven years. It was one of the very first review samples I accepted, and I mostly did it because I got an interview filled with reader questions out of the deal. At the time I stated of the rye:

This is one where it had to grow on me. In my initial tasting, I felt it tasted a bit young. After spending almost a month with it, I've warmed up to it. This certainly is a unique whiskey and is outside the normal American Straight Rye flavor profile, which threw me at first. But I've come around.

And of the bourbon:

I am not a fan of smoky whiskey. I can appreciate it, but seldom like it if it is too pronounced. In this case, the smoke flavors are just light enough that it doesn't bother me too much. My wife on the other hand likes this a lot and has been the primary consumer of the bottle above.

I can tell you right now that in the intervening years, one of my reservations about the whiskeys has been addressed. They are no longer two years old, instead landing in the four- to five-year-old range. It looks like they still use no malted grains in the mash, instead using commercial enzymes to accomplish the starch-to-sugar transformation (which I think is pretty cool). And the bottles still look very nice.

But most importantly, do they taste better than they did seven years ago? We will start with the Rye first.

Union Horse Reunion Straight Rye Whiskey

Purchase Price: This review sample was provided at no cost by the producer for review purposes. The suggested price is $45.

Price per Drink (50 mL): $3.00

Details: 100% Rye. 46.5% ABV. 4-5 years old. Batch 43. Barreled at 110° proof

Nose: Cedar, cinnamon, mint, and just a hint of smoke.

Mouth: Cedar, mint, cinnamon, ginger, clove, honey, caramel, and a hint of cocoa.

Finish: Warm and on the longer side of medium length. Notes of chocolate, cedar, and cinnamon.

Thoughts: Vibrant, sweet, complex. I'm really enjoying this. It needs no water and I’m enjoying the heck out of it neat. It also makes a mean Sazerac.

Union Horse Reserve Bourbon

Purchase Price: This review sample was provided at no cost by the producer for review purposes. The suggested price is $41.

Price per Drink (50 mL): $2.73

Details: 46% ABV. 4-5 years old. Batch 64.

Nose: Cinnamon, maple, cedar, and toffee.

Mouth: Cinnamon candies, cedar, clove, toffee, and dried grains.

Finish: Medium length and warmth. Notes of cinnamon, clove, and cedar.

Thoughts: Spicy and flavorful with a lot of baking spices. The finish has a nice burn but isn't hot by any means. It doesn't have your stereotypical bourbon flavor profile, but that's kinda what I like about it. And even better, at least for me personally, I detect almost no hint of smoke, even though it is listed in their official tasting notes.

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Rossville Union Bottled in Bond Straight Rye Whiskey, 2023

I’d like to thank ByrnePR and Ross & Squibb Distillery for providing this review sample with no strings attached.

Well, hello there, neighbor. I was just sitting down to learn more about Ross & Squibb’s latest rye. Would you like to learn about it, too?

Ok, that’s enough with the Mr. Rogers thing. So, I’m still working my way through the massive number of samples that arrived while I was on vacation, and the next on the docket is one of a couple from Ross & Squibb, formerly known as the retail brand portion of MGP.

Rossville Union Bottled-in-Bond is a six-year-old Bonded Rye distilled in March 2017. It uses their 51% rye / 49% malted barley mash bill. They produced 3,000 6-bottle cases. And the suggested retail price is $49.99. Quoting from the Press Release:

“I’m proud to continue Ross & Squibb’s tradition of creating high-quality rye whiskey that dates back to 1847. Since that time, we have worked to perfect our craft, giving our rye whiskeys unmatched character,” said [Master Distiller Ian] Stirsman. “For our Rossville Union Bottled in Bond Straight Rye Whiskey we combined our industry leading rye expertise with a new high malt mashbill to create something truly special.  We then let the barrels mature for a minimum of 6 years, resulting in aromas of sweet malt, dark chocolate, raisin and saddle leather with tasting notes highlighted by caramel and mocha with a rich, candied-fruit body, followed by a slight green-apple, malted-chocolate and cinnamon finish.”

So, they mention that this is a new mash bill. Looking back on past reviews that I’ve done for Rossville Union, I see that I mentioned this mash bill, as an aside, back in 2018 when I reviewed my first bottle from the brand. But I no longer see it on the MGP product sheet, so either they stopped making it and are using up the stocks or pulled it for in-house use. After tasting it, I’m guessing the latter, but that is just a guess.

Now onto the important part, how does it taste?

Rossville Union Bottled in Bond Straight Rye Whiskey, 2023

Purchase Info: This sample bottle was provided by the producer for review purposes. The suggested retail price is $49.99

Price per Drink (50 mL): $3.33

Details: 50% ABV. 6 years old. Mash bill: 51% rye, 49% malted barley.

Nose: Cedar, spearmint, and a touch of vanilla.

Mouth: Sweet and spicy with notes of spearmint, caramel, oak, stone fruits, apple, and cinnamon.

Finish: Sweet, warm, and long with notes of spearmint, cinnamon, and stone fruit.

Thoughts: With just rye and malted barley, I wasn’t sure what to expect with this one. Corn can help add a nicer mouthfeel to a rye, and I wondered if this would be an issue here. But nothing to worry about in that respect. This is a pretty damn good rye! I'm enjoying the heck out of it. It’s sweet and spicy with a very prominent spearmint note. It has really nice fruit notes. If you like a well-balanced rye, pick this one up. $50 for a limited release is a pretty good price.

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Parker’s Heritage Collection, 2023, Cask Strength Rye Whiskey

I’d like to thank Heaven Hill for providing this review sample with no strings attached.

Parker's Heritage Collection is Heaven Hill’s annual “Ultra-Premium” bourbon release named for Parker Beam, Heaven Hill’s late Master Distiller Emeritus. For many years now, a portion of each bottle’s price has been donated to support ALS research and patient care in honor of Mr. Beam. To this point, sales of Parker’s Heritage Collection have raised over $1.2 million, which is pretty cool.

So on to the bourbon, Heaven Hill was very detailed on how this bourbon was created, so instead of rehashing everything, I’ll just let them speak for themselves in this one.

The 17th edition is comprised of 10-year-old Rye Whiskey that was barreled in August, October, or December of 2012. The barrels were aged on the first floors of Rickhouses H1 and H2, the fifth floor of Rickhouse FF, the third and seventh floors of Rickhouse BB, and the second floor of Rickhouse DD. At bottling, the liquid was non-chill filtered to preserve the natural flavors of the aging process. The mashbill for this edition is comprised of Heaven Hill Distillery’s traditional Rye Whiskey Mashbill 51% rye, 35% corn, and 14% malted barley and bottled at cask strength, 128.8 proof.

Let’s see how it tastes.

Parker's Heritage Collection, 17ᵗʰ Edition, 10-Year-Old, Cask-Strength Rye Whiskey

Purchase Info: This sample was provided for review purposes by the producer at no charge. The suggested retail price is $185.00

Price Per Drink (50 mL): $12.33

Details: 10 years old, 64.4% ABV. Mash Bill: 51% rye, 35% corn, and 14% malted barley

Nose: Cola, cedar, honey, and herbal mint.

Mouth: Hot and very sweet. Honey, cedar, cherry, and herbal mint.

Finish: Hot and long with prominent notes of honey and cherry, followed by notes of oak and baking spice.

Thoughts: Wow! Not only is this really hot—at almost 130° proof, I expected that—but it's much sweeter than I anticipated. In fact, I'm not sure I've ever had a rye with this much honey sweetness before. And you know I love honey, so this one hits in all the right places for me. I will say, though, that I prefer it with a small piece of ice or a splash of water. All the flavors stick around, but the heat is tamed a bit. It's delicious in either case. I like this one a lot.

Now, I usually pour off a section of these samples to share with local friends who love whiskey. But this time, I decided on a whim to use this more lavishly. I made myself possibly the most expensive Sazerac I’ve ever made at home. I used two ounces of Parker’s Heritage Rye, five shakes of barrel-aged Peychaud’s Bitters, and a squeeze of Agave syrup in a glass spritzed with absinth and a lemon twist. Oh my goodness! I know I’ve never had a Sazerac this good. Not in a bar, not at home, not in New Orleans. It was very possibly the best cocktail I’ve ever made. And after using $15 worth of whiskey in it, it should be. Just thought I’d share that. Not that anyone who didn’t get it for free (or is extravagantly wealthy) would use it this way, but if you were curious like I was, there you go.

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Square 6 High-Rye Rye Whiskey & Square 6 Wheated Bourbon

I’d like to thank Heaven Hill for providing these review samples with no strings attached.

Hey, we’re back with the two newest releases in the Square 6 lineup. I’m not going to lie to you. I found the High-Rye Bourbon that we reviewed in the last post to be very disappointing. As far as I’m aware, I’ve seldom, if ever, disliked a Heaven Hill product, especially when it was something that was selling for almost $100.

Heaven Hill touts the Evan Williams Experience as an “Artisinal” distillery. And I can see that logic with it only being able to produce a barrel of distillate daily. And honestly, the High-Rye bourbon tasted like an early craft whiskey. Unfortunately, they priced it like one as well. We used to call that the “craft tax.” You’d pay too much for sub-par whiskey because the small guys didn’t have the economies of scale to buy enough product to get the lowest prices for their ingredients or the cash flow to let it age out to the point of smoothing off the rough edges. Heaven Hill has no such issue here. Sure, at a barrel per day, they will never have a lot of the whiskeys. But if it isn’t on the same level as your other ultra-premium whiskeys, is it worth watering down your brand by pricing it like one of them? I honestly don’t know. I just yell into the void on the internet. But from my chair, I wouldn’t have done it that way.

Anyway, I’ll start out with a spoiler. The next two do, in fact, taste better than the High-Rye Bourbon. I even liked one of them. Though even then, I certainly wouldn’t pay $90 for it.

Square 6 High-Rye Rye Whiskey

Summary of the Press Release: On October 18, 2022, Heaven Hill Distillery introduced the Square 6 High-Rye Rye Whiskey, the second craft product of its series launched from the Evan Williams Bourbon Experience. This exclusive Rye Whiskey features a mashbill with 63% Rye, 24% Corn, and 13% Malted Barley, distinguishing it from their traditional Rye Whiskey mashbill. Bottled at 95 proof, it boasts intriguing notes of black tea, sweet honey, fig, molasses, allspice, pepper, vanilla, and cardamom. Limited in quantity, the Square 6 High-Rye Rye Whiskey is available at the Evan Williams Bourbon Experience and select Kentucky retailers for $89.99.

Purchase Info: This sample was provided at no cost by Heaven Hill for review purposes. The suggested retail price is $89.99

Price per Drink (50 mL): $6.00

Details: 47.5% ABV. Mashbill: 63% Rye, 24% Corn, and 13% Malted Barley

Nose: Cedar, cotton candy, and cinnamon.

Mouth: Cinnamon candies, cola, mint, ginger, and vanilla.

Finish: Medium length and warm. Notes of cedar, mint, cola, and ginger.

Thoughts: Not bad. It certainly isn't my favorite rye, but I wouldn't turn down a glass, either. Overall this straddles the line between "I Like it" and "I'm neutral on this." In such cases, I usually round up. And I’m doing so again here. There are definitely interesting notes in there that help bump it up. I really like how the cola notes play with the mint and the ginger. Overall, this is an interesting take on rye, a category big Kentucky distilleries rarely innovate in.

Square 6 Wheated Bourbon

Summary of the Press Release: On June 13, 2023, Heaven Hill Distillery introduced Square 6 Wheated Bourbon. This is the third product in the Square 6 line that was developed at the Evan Williams Bourbon Experience in Louisville. This new bourbon is a blend of two distinct wheated mashbills, one with 74% corn, 16% wheat, and 10% malted barley, and the other with 68% corn, 20% wheat, and 12% malted barley. Bottled at 105 proof, the Square 6 Wheated Bourbon offers rich aromas of caramel, vanilla, figs, bing cherries, and oak, with a palate featuring sweet confectioners' sugar and walnuts, and a finish highlighted by walnuts, oak tannins, baking spices, cinnamon, and cola. Artisanal Distiller Jodie Filiatreau and the team at Evan Williams Bourbon Experience craft one barrel of this unique bourbon daily, constantly refining the hand-crafted pot still process for each recipe. The limited release of Square 6 Wheated Bourbon is available at the Evan Williams Bourbon Experience and select Kentucky retailers for a suggested retail price of $89.99.

Purchase Info: This sample was provided at no cost by Heaven Hill for review purposes. The suggested retail price is $89.99

Price per Drink (50 mL): $6.00

Details: 52.5% ABV. Mashbill: a blend of two distinct wheated mashbills, one with 74% corn, 16% wheat, and 10% malted barley, and the other with 68% corn, 20% wheat, and 12% malted barley.

Nose: Strong oak notes, along with fruit and cinnamon.

Mouth: Cedar, mint, cinnamon, and fresh lumber.

Finish: Medium length and warm. Notes of fruit, mint, cinnamon, and chocolate.

Thoughts: First thoughts? Not bad, not great. Expanding a little on that thought: it is not objectively bad, but it's not for me. As usual, in such cases, I'm giving it a neutral rating. But, like I said, it just doesn’t align with my palate. However, it is not nearly as tasty as I would have expected from Heaven Hill.

And heck, there might be people who want to spend the money on something different and end up liking it. I wouldn’t look sideways at them for that. I’m not the type to yuck anyone’s yum. That said, I'd definitely see if someone is pouring it in a Louisville bar before heading over to the Evan Williams Experience to buy a bottle. That goes for all three, in fact. I can see the Square 6 line being polarizing. And it would be terrible to drop a hundred bucks on a bottle if it turns out you don’t like it.

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