Excessive West’s Bourye has constructed a type of cult following amongst some American whiskey followers, with its manufacturing relationship again to the early 2010s. The bourbon/rye mashup usually contained highly-aged whiskey from a number of distilleries, and followers chased new tastes because the mix and profile shifted from one 12 months to the following. After a few decade as a nationwide launch, Excessive West modified Bourye to a distillery-only bottling, so clients wanted to buy it in Utah. (Or ask a good friend properly.)
Apparently, that was solely a short lived transfer, and the 2025 model takes Bourye again to nationwide distribution. (It’s nonetheless a “restricted sighting.”) As per traditional, Bourye 2024 is a mix of straight rye and bourbon whiskeys, and whereas we don’t know the precise proportion, Excessive West is divulging the mix’s element mashbills:
- Straight Rye Whiskey: 95% rye and 5% malted barley from MGP; 80% rye and 20% malted rye from Excessive West Distillery.
- Straight Bourbon Whiskey: 75% corn, 21% rye, and 4% malted barley from MGP; 60% corn, 36% rye and 4% malted barley from MGP; 78% corn, 10% rye, and 12% malted barley from an undisclosed Kentucky distillery.
In keeping with Excessive West, all elements on this 12 months’s mix are at the very least 10 years previous. That’s particularly noteworthy in regard to the distillery’s personal 80/20 rye, which is probably going among the many oldest Excessive West-distilled rye we’ve seen launched in any capability.
The ultimate mix is bottled at 46% abv and carries an MSRP round $125. Let’s see the way it tastes!
I at all times let my tasting samples relaxation for at the very least 5 minutes earlier than recording notes. However this Bourye makes ready troublesome, with daring fruits wafting out of the glass from a number of ft away. The medley of fruit is paying homage to some properly aged malt whiskeys. (I hardly anticipated this to evoke a fruity Speyside, however right here we’re.) Certainly, there’s an always-on however not overwhelming thread of malt and cooked fruit all through the nostril: charred peaches, apricot skins, and burnt citrus peels.
These shiny, candy aromas quickly shift towards strong, barrel-forward bourbon notes, stuffed with traditional pan caramel and greater than a touch of campfire smoke. These notes evolve much more a couple of minutes later: birch bark and a cedar-lined closet meet barrel char and the continued underpinnings of fruit. It’s one of the crucial fascinating noses I can keep in mind on a Excessive West product, and I may hardly cease smelling it.
For all of the nostril’s complexity, the early palate is simpler to pin down. Toffee, milk chocolate, and pecan brittle lead with sweetness. These parts are balanced by a touch of salinity and dried fruit — suppose salted, dried apricots. There’s much less fruit total to talk of right here, however it’s not fully absent, with that apricot and dried orange main into bitter elements on the midpalate. As soon as there, natural and vegetal flavors construct within the type of endive and licorice root, with simply sufficient residual sweetness to maintain issues in steadiness. Taken as an entire, the sip is paying homage to a smoked maple quaint, heavy on orange bitters — with a leaf of frisée as garnish. (Why not?)
Herbs and toffee meld into candy mint (and a contact of oak) on the mid-length end. It’s a pleasant decrescendo from an intricate palate, however not inherently a letdown, with lots to chew on whereas considering a subsequent sip.
The nostril is engulfing, the palate has much more peaks than valleys, and solely the end — nestled firmly into “fairly good” territory — retains this mix from coming into superlative territory. It’s one of many high Excessive West Bouryes I’ve tried, and flat out among the many finest bourbon+rye blends I’ve sipped in current reminiscence.
92 proof.
A- / $125 / highwest.com [BUY IT NOW FROM FROOTBAT]
Excessive West Bourye (2025)
$125
