High West Bourye Limited Sighting is the 2017 edition of High West’s Bourye whiskey which combines bourbon and rye – hence the name. Based on the bottle code breakdown I laid out in the Bourye 2015 release review we know this particular bottle of the Bourye Limited Sighting was bottled on the 9th of January 2017.
In High West’s Words: High West Bourye Limited Sighting
“All whiskeys in this carefully crafted blend are a minimum of 10 years old and sourced from multiple distilleries…. Bourye® is best enjoyed around a campfire while looking at the Milky Way. Important! Jackalopes will attack if cornered or provoked. To avoid injury, quickly fall to the ground, remain calm and still, while humming the Roy Rogers song, “Happy Trails to You”.”
Between the 2016 release and batch 2 of the original Bourye I think we’ve covered everything you’d ever need to know about this particular whiskey so let’s jump right into the High West Bourye Limited Sighting review below.
High West Bourye Limited Sighting Info
Region: Utah, USA
Distiller: MGP
Blender: High West
Blend: 2 ryes and one bourbon
- Straight Rye Whiskey: 95% rye, 5% barley malt from MGP &
- Straight Rye Whiskey:53% rye, 37% corn, 10% barley malt from MGP
- Straight Bourbon Whiskey: 75% corn, 21% rye, 4% barley malt from MGP
Cask: New Charred Oak
Age: 10 years (A blend of straight Bourbon and Rye whiskeys aged from 10 to 14 years.)
ABV: 46%
Non-Chill Filtered
Batch: 2017
Price: $70*
High West Bourye Limited Sighting Review
EYE
Ruddy copper
NOSE
Oak, dark sweets, complex spice, cherry heavy dried dark fruit, nuts, vanilla and a bit of molasses cake. The aroma is delightful.
PALATE
Oak, complex spice, complex dark sweets, nuts, vanilla taffy and a bit of menthol. The palate isn’t as rich as the nose, but it’s still darn good.
FINISH
Long spicy fade layered with dark fruit, dark sweets, oak and mint.
BALANCE, BODY & FEEL
Well balanced, full body and an oily slick feel.
OVERALL
High West Bourye Limited Sighting is a darn good whiskey, but really did you expect anything less from Perkins and Co? Blending odds and ends together to make alluring concoctions is what he’s done form the beginning. The aroma is deep, dark and sticky, the palate is a slightly muted version of the same but oddly kicks up in the finish and carries a nice rich body throughout.
I don’t know if they’ll ever be able to capture the beauty of those first couple batches, but this High West Bourye Limited Sighting is a strong showing and a valiant effort. What Perkins does is akin to whiskey wizardry and it’s interesting to see how often people try to duplicate this thing alone but aren’t able to achieve what he does in each batch. Wild Turkey Forgiven (batch 2 was on purpose), Rebel Yell American Whiskey, Wyoming Whiskey Outryder and so on; “often imitated, never duplicated” feels rather appropriate here.
SCORE: 91/100 (A-)
*Disclosure: This High West Bourye Limited Sighting was graciously sent to me by the company for the purposes of this review. The views, opinions, and tasting notes are 100% my own.
High West Bourye Limited Sighting Review - Score Breakdown
Summary
High West Bourye Limited Sighting is worth picking up, it’s good as always.
Overall
- Nose - 92
- Palate - 89
- Finish - 92
- Balance, Body & Feel - 91
I finally got a hold of a bottle. A friend was kind enough to pick it up in San Francisco and bring to me here in the Netherlands. This is fantastic stuff. I had to bury it in the cabinet so that I wouldn’t be at it every night. Just writing about makes me want to get it out!
Cheers Bruce! Glad you got to try this awesome stuff!
So if my bottle says 17L22, that means it was bottled December 22nd 2017, and is still part of the 2017 release?
You got it!
I got the second to last bottle at my local store. $70. I opened it tonight and wished I bought both. Excellent stuff – bravo High West!
Live and learn, cheers Doug!