High West 16 Year Old Rocky Mountain Rye

Earlier this week, I tasted High West's new release of Bourye. Today, I taste another new version of a previous release. The original High West 16 year old Rocky Mountain Rye was one of my favorite of all High West whiskeys. It was made from a Barton rye with an 80% rye mashbill.  They recently brought back the 16 year old, but now it's a blend of that original Barton rye with 16 year old MGP rye with the standard 95% rye mashbill.

This is a small release (100 cases) only available at the new High West distillery at Blue Sky Ranch that will be released each year on Labor Day. This one came out last year and, I believe, is sold out.

High West Rocky Mountain Rye, 16 years old, Batch 15G07, 46% abv ($130)

This has a great, complex nose with rye spice, sweet floral notes, bubblegum and cotton candy. The palate starts sweet and then turns highly medicinal, leading into a medicinal finish that fades into a nice sweet/spicy balance.

This was another good, bold rye from High West. The influence of the MGP is certainly evident in the medicinal notes. As with the original Bourye, it's been a long time since I tasted the original 16 year old so it's hard to compare, but going by memory, I would say that this one, while good and very enjoyable, is not quite as good as the first all-Barton edition.