High West Bottled in Bond Rye Whiskey Review

By Richard Thomas

Rating: B+

High West Bottled in Bond Rye
(Credit: Richard Thomas)

Utah’s High West earned its reputation as a fan favorite through their transparency. The company was among those that tried and proved the path of using sourced whiskey to develop a brand while mustering the resources and expertise to build a working distillery, develop whiskeys and mature them. What made them the darling of so many whiskey nerds a decade ago was that they were part of a small class that disclosed their sourcing, at least insofar as their contractual obligations allowed them to. Barrell Craft Spirits and Smooth Ambler also garnered plaudits from the enthusiast community for transparency.

High West continues to rely on sourcing to this day, but their goal from the beginning was to make an in-house rye whiskey. They crossed that milestone years ago, and this rye has found its way into their products. Double Rye, for example, mixes a wide majority of MGP-sourced rye with their in-house product. That has so much been the case that I don’t actually recall any way to get at High West’s rye whiskey in and of itself, because it is so often merely part of one of their legacy expressions.

Or that was the case until High West Bottled in Bond Rye came along in February 2024. The mash behind this whiskey is 80% rye, 20% malted rye, both from a hybrid strain of grain called Guittino. As a bonded whiskey, the stock comes entirely from a single distilling year, the expression is a minimum of four years old (the batch numeration suggests it is a five year old, but that goes unstated on the labeling) and its 100 proof.

The Whiskey
The pour has a clear, bright and light amber look in the glass. The scent brings out both elements of what I would expect from its mash bill: cookie spice and peppermint on the one hand, and pumpernickel dough on the other. There is a woody note that is more cedar and than oak, plus another note of vanilla. The palate follows and develops very much in that vein: the standard pumpernickel and molasses that comes with malted rye so much of the time, plus notes of dill, peppermint, cookie spices, fennel and cedar. The finish spins out peppery and woody.

The Price
Expect to pay $80 a bottle.