Being a Utah native for the better part of the last 30 years I had to spend a good amount of my adult life figuring out ways to acquire whiskey, beer, and wine that wasn’t easily available in the state-run liquor stores. One such adventure even landed me in court for 2 days and resulted in a misdemeanor bootlegging charge, which I feel is more a badge of honor than a black spot on my record given my love of the dram.
I tell you all of this because never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined that one day the tables would turn and I would be actively seeking ways to get booze out of Utah instead of into it. Now living in Los Angeles it’s sometimes difficult to track down some of the amazing whiskey coming from High West. This craft distillery in Park City, UT (the first distillery in UT since prohibition ended) is not only home to a fantastic ski-in ski-out gastropub and bar, but they blend (and distill) some really amazing whiskey there.
Founded in 2007 High West has gone the route of many small distilleries and created a line of unaged spirits and, most notably, blending and bottling whiskey from other distillers to help tide them over financially while their own whiskey ages. This particular bourbon is a blend of LDI and Four Roses. The LDI is a 6 year bourbon comprised of 75% corn, 20% rye and 5% barley. The Four Roses is a 10 year bourbon made up of 60% corn, 35% rye, and 5% barley malt. The 10 year Four Roses alone is a great reason to give this a go.
Another reason to pick up a bottle is that High West will donate 10% of their profits from each bottle to the American Prairie Foundation which is building the largest wildlife reserve in the lower 48 states. So not only are you getting good bourbon, but you’re being a philanthropist as well. The only way this could get better is if it counted as a charitable donation on your taxes.
High West American Prairie Reserve Bourbon Review
Non-Chill Filtered
ABV: 46%
Price: $43
Distiller: LDI & Four Roses
Blender & Bottler: High West
EYE
Dark caramel
NOSE
When first popping the cork it’s a bit bitty with strange notes of iodine, but if you let this guy breathe some great things start to emerge. Things like dark fruit leather, overripe strawberries, hints of anise, vanilla custard, toasted marshmallow, spice and wood. Add a splash of water and the caramel starts to bellow and that traditional spicy bourbon nose really kicks up.
PALATE
It has a fantastic peppery pop to it that blends well with the bourbon spice and cinnamon notes that hit up front and the in the back. After that initial pepper pop there are nice notes of strawberry jam, and not that over sugared garbage you get at the store, but more like the all natural stuff you get at the farmers market. Rounding out the taste are notes of dark cherries and a grainy rye like flavor. Add some water and fantastic roasted corn emerges. With or without water there is a nice light oak flavor that ties the whole thing together in a nice neat package for your palate.
FINISH
Cherry licorice and a hint of sherry like sweetness kick off the aftertaste and then it fades down to wood, dark fruit, caramel, rye spice, green apples, something akin to fresh cut grass and barley. Sounds gritty, but it’s quite pleasant.
BALANCE, BODY & FEEL
Hot. There is a remarkable amount of unexpected roughness in this bottle. That said, it’s still very manageable and really seems to add rather than detract from the overall character of this whiskey.
OVERALL
I just freaking love this whiskey. It’s complex enough you could sit back and take your time with it, but also bold and flavorful enough to be a daily dram for while you’re doing stuff around the house, watching TV or reading your favorite blog… what ever that might be. Warm, spicy, sweet and savory it’s tasty as can be without being overbearing. Nicely done High West… nicely done.
SCORE: 88/100
________________________________
High West American Prairie Reserve Bourbon: Last Glass Update (10-25-14)*
—————————————————–
In a way the last glass of a bottle of whiskey is my favorite glass in the bottle. There is some small sense of accomplishment when I look back at the initial post, initial notes, the drinking notes as I went through it and comparing it all to this final glass. There is something exciting and relieving about ending the journey; with the High West American Prairie Reserve Bourbon it’s been a fun and tasty journey indeed.
Here in the last glass the nose lost a lot of it’s initial sweetness and the notes of wood, spice and rye dill have taken over with the sweeter dark fruit notes acting as supporting players. Same goes for the palate. There the rye spice and wood notes have moved to dominate with sweet dark fruit and caramel notes lending support. Finish is again the same story. It tastes like the MGP/LDI bourbon has lessened it’s influence and the Four Roses has increased. Right now it’s tasting really similar to many of the Four Roses Single Barrels I’ve had and that is definitely NOT a bad thing.
FINAL VERDICT: Buy it. If you like spicy rye driven bourbon that has a nice mild sweetness and a bit of a bite then I recommend you grab a bottle. I can’t move it up or down in the ranking at all, but 88 is a very solid score and is definitely something I will be buying again and again.
*This was initially posted on Bourbonr, but I’ve added it here to do the Last Glass Update
Thanks Josh,
I did buy it… glad I did.. price shot back up to its regular $100 shortly after… Kicking myself for not grabbing an extra one to stash away Ha Ha!!
Had to crack the seal on it … Maaan … Don’t say it very often as I’m always looking towards the next bottle … this is a definite repeat purchase. The one thing I love to do is leave the glass on the table overnight.. .. nose it the next day… This High west had those beautiful tobacco notes… pipe tobacco. Got a week before trying again as I’m on standby (on call) for work … (No grog) but enjoy it next Wednesday for sure.
Been watching the election with interest today… Don’t know what to make of it. Still close to close to call ?? or has Trump got it.
Thanks as always Mate
AL
Super late reply, but at least we know how the election stuff turned out :D Glad you got it and hope you continue to love it. Cheers Allan!
G’day Josh,
Now… I’m on the the verge of buying a bottle of this shortly as it’s on special from $100 down to $80.
I’m still not sure I’m a Rye devotee…. Up to ow My number one is the Makers Mark CASK STRENGTH. Russells Reserve SIB a close second then Blantons private…. I haven’t tried the Knob Creek or Bookers yet (still in the cupboard). How would this High West sit or compare to those mentioned?
thanks Mate.
AL
Hey Allan, This is going to be softer and warmer than the MMCS and less spicy than a rye. Think of Buffalo Trace
just got this at 31 bucks. not bad at all for combo stuff. somebody knows what their doing there
Perkins and Co. definitely know how to blend up some whiskey. Cheers Len!
Tried some last night at a hotel bar…excellent pour.
Nice, glad you liked it. Cheers JonO!
Hi Josh,
I’m a long time reader of your blog. You do an excellent job reviewing whiskey. Now, if you could just map all the retailers in the US and keep a running inventory for us. Jk
So I cracked open a bottle of American Praire from early 2015. I was amazed how good it was for the price. I looked further into the whiskey on your blog,.
Did they stop using 4 roses for the 2nd whiskey for the blend?
Ha, I’ll get right on that Tim ;)
Thank you and yes they stopped using Four Roses a while ago. Four Roses stopped doing contract distilling and letting barrels out because they need it. Sucks for others, but a great position for Four Roses.
Hi Josh — Wally’s in Westwood is selling American Prairie for 24.99 a bottle at the tent sale 2/19-2/21. Just picked up two, along with a Talisker Storm for $39.99. Usually the deals at this sale aren’t that great on liquor, but those are amazing prices. If you’re out on the westside, get in while the gettin’s good.
Hey Mike,
Thanks for the heads up, too bad I was running a couple weeks behind on my comment replies! That’s a great price on both. Jealous.
Cheers!
There’s a few things I like about this High West. The peppery bite and oak are welcome notes. The finish is mouthwatering with the hints of fruit and spice.
But… I just can’t get past the anise. Apparently, I’m not a fan of anise. The finish is redemptive but as much as I’ve tried to like this High West, and as much as I enjoy the lingering soft, spicy fruit, that anise punches me in the face and it’s too much to overcome.
I’m always glad to try a new whiskey. And what a bonus, this bottle is a little work of art on its own (a vintage style glass with a hammered texture and bubbles like you’d find in mouth blown glass pieces). This [soonish to be empty] bottle will be displayed somewhere in our home decor.
*still/always my go-to blog to read about whiskey; )
Thanks Amy, I always appreciate your comments! I can definitely see how a rich anise not can be a turn off, but I’m on the other side and I love it. Black licorice is easily my favorite treat :)
I saw your positive review, on top of some other good reviews, and had been looking for this with no luck. I had nearly given up, but I walked into a new store when I was out of town at a meeting and there it was sitting on the shelf for $39.99. I snatched it up and am enjoying a pour, right now.
This is really interesting stuff! My nose and palate seems to experience it a bit differently than yours, which is to be expected, of course.
At first I thought it didn’t have much of a nose when I first poured it into the glass, but then I realized the scents were all in the lighter, sweeter register for me. In fact, I found it to be one of the sweetest noses I’ve experienced, all full of light aromas like pancake syrup (the good kind), sweet corn, brown sugar, vanilla, some cinnamon and even a hint of a lifesaver breath mint (that sounds weird, but it worked!). Any kind of wood I smelled in the background was a light scent. Not the dark, oiled wood sort of thing, but like a fresh-hewn plank or newly finished board in the sunlight of a lumber yard kind of thing. After letting it sit for 10-15 minutes and warming the glass with my hand, I caught a bit of anise that you described.
The taste followed the nose, for me, with a sweet start, sweet middle, and a pleasant, warming peppery kick to the medium-long finish. It has a nice, medium+ mouthfeel, as well.
Really tasty, really interesting, really nice stuff. Thanks for the positive review that pushed me to get this when I finally saw it on a shelf! I had thought maybe they weren’t making it any more, but I was happy to finally see it.
PS – The longer I let i sit in the glass, the more those dark fruit, anise and licorice aromas came out that you described. Again, this is really interesting stuff. Thanks!
Hey Abe,
That’s awesome and thanks for sharing your tasting notes and experience. I’m glad I could help here :)
Cheers man!
I just have to say that this whiskey is one of the many great things about working on the American Prairie Reserve. It accompanies every major function, and high-level donors get fed bottles of this stuff. It pairs very nicely with the night sky out on the prairie (and the occasional visit from the northern lights). Thanks for the great review; I’m glad you mentioned the Reserve, too.