High West American Prairie Reserve Bourbon Review by Josh Peters
High West American Prairie Reserve Bourbon Review
by Josh Peters of The Whiskey Jug
I first came across The Whiskey Jugs reviews on Reddit. While my reviews include an ugly Microsoft Paint image for the review Josh takes beautiful filtered pictures with text clusters to describe the Whiskey or Bourbon review.
Enter Josh:
Being a Utah native for the better part of the last 30 years I’ve 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.
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 some really amazing whiskey there too.
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 profits (after tax) 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:
ABV: 46%
Price: $43
Distiller: LDI & 4 Roses blended by High West
EYE
A nice deep amber with ruby facets
NOSE
When first popping the cork it’s a bit bitey and full 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, and toasted marshmallow. Add a splash of water and the caramel starts to bellow and that traditional spicy bourbon nose really kicks up.
TASTE
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 is 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.
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.
FINISH
Cherry licorice and a hint of sherry kick off the aftertaste and then it fades down to green apples before it finishes out with something akin to fresh cut grass and barley. Sounds gritty, but it’s quite pleasant
SCORE: 88/100
9 comments
I just had this bourbon last night and stumbled into your review this morning, and have to say that you are completely full of shit. NO ONE could detect those 12 tastes and odors that you describe in your review.
Not my review but since Josh probably won’t see this to defend it I will. How can you decide what notes people can and can’t pick up? I think you don’t understand the point of reviews. No one is saying it taste just like cinnamon or brown sugar. They’re saying the flavor of the bourbon reminds them of these things or has hints of these things. Trying to paint a picture to the reader of what the whiskey may taste like. Other wise it’d just be “taste like alcohol but its kinda sweet”.
Just curious, what flavor notes did you get?
Like bourbon, love moonshine! I tasted this and kept asking the guy who brought it if this was bourbon or rye as I thought it more like the latter. Definitely a bit spicy and slightly harsh but also lacking the over-sweetness of typical, consumer grade bourbon. Really quite delicious.
No source on the Four Roses claim, and High West says it’s a blend of THREE bourbons, not two. The youngest is a two year old from MGP.
I am drinking some of this as I type. I’m getting a honey taste, really light citrus and of course a little char. It does remind me of a FRSB. I have been playing with George T stage, Stagg jr, Pappy 20yr and Weller 12 in the past two weeks, so I am not sure what I tasted can be taken to the bank. If this one was the only brand I could ever get, I could live and be happy with it.
Tried this ‘new rye whiskey’ instead when I ordered a Makers on the rocks last night at La Caille in Sandy, Utah at the recommendation of our waiter Sean. Great whiskey. Great evening. Could drink this all the time.
When I ordered a Makers on the rocks last night at La Caille in Sandy, Utah at the recommendation of our waiter Sean, I tried this ‘new rye whiskey’ instead. Great whiskey. Great evening. Could drink this all the time. A big fan of Four Roses.