High West Rendezvous Rye Batch #49
We’re in the midst of a rye whiskey renaissance. It was not too long ago that rye whiskies were pretty rare beasts, but during the past five years there’s been a boom in the number of rye whiskies that are available. What’s more, a lot of these are very good whiskies. Consider some of the highlights:
- Van Winkle 13-year
- Rittenhouse 21-, 23-year, and 25-year
- Black Maple Hill 18- and 23-year
- Sazerac 18-year and 6-year Thomas Handy cask-strength
Across the board, these are fabulous whiskies, attaining heights and complexities of flavor often reserved for only fine scotch and the very best bourbons. And following in the wake of these whiskies are a whole family of ryes from a wide variety of distilleries. Small, micro-distillers such as Tuthilltown in New York and Grand Traverse in Michigan are releasing high quality, small-batch ryes. And there are a handful of ryes coming out from independent bottlers that are receiving a lot of praise. In the past couple of months alone, Malt Advocate editor John Hansell has written about 5 different ryes. Significant, considering that rye is essentially just a niche in the broader whisk(e)y market.
High West is a distillery located in Park City who are participating in this rye renaissance in a dual role: as both distiller and bottler. The distillery was founded in 2007 by David Perkins, and shortly thereafter released their first bottles of rye whiskey. Young distilleries such as High West have two options open to them when it comes to releasing their first whiskies. They can either wait until the whiskey that they’ve distilled is ready for release, and perhaps take steps to speed the aging process, as Tuthilltown does with their small casks (3, 5, and 7-gallon). Or they can buy whiskey from other distilleries, and release it under their own label as whiskey “bottled by” them as opposed to “distilled by” them.
With their rye whiskey, High West chose the latter option, purchasing stocks of 6-, 16-, and 21-year old rye whiskey, and releasing three separate bottlings. The Rendezvous Rye is a blend of 6-year and 16-year rye, and was released alongside solo bottlings of the 16-year and 21-year rye. All told, the three are rather unique whiskies. The 6-year was distilled from a mash containing 95% rye, and the 16-year from a mash containing 80% rye, both much higher percentages than you typically encounter. The 21-year is the most typical rye of the three, distilled from a mash containing 53% rye. But it’s still unusual in that it spent all of its time aging in used barrels. The provenance of the three whiskies remains a mystery, despite rumors and guessing by some whiskey writers and bloggers. Most likely, the 6- and 16-year ryes were intended to be used as flavoring whiskies, since no other distillery has ever released such older stocks of high-rye whiskies before (besides Anchor Steam, and these whiskies aren’t from them), and it’s possible, yet doubtful, that one or both of them were distilled in Canada. What it comes down to, is that at this point, we don’t know where they come from.
What we do know is that they’re pretty nice whiskies.
Tasting Notes
This whiskey is bottle #1007 from batch #49, and it’s bottled at 46%.
In the glass, Rendezvous Rye is soft gold with amber highlights. The nose is interesting, intriguing. There’s the spicy nuttiness of tequila, along with chili pepper, black pepper, mint, mustard seed, shallots, and a hint of burnt sugar. The palate has a soft, mellow texture with some youthful heat on the backside. There are flavors of almonds, citrus, and spicy mint, supported by a sweet foundation of honey, caramel, and vanilla. The finish is medium-length with notes of demerera sugar, limes, spicines, and cocoa dust.
This is rye whiskey – vibrant, lively, spicy, and of a fiery temperament. It’s brash and electric in the glass, and is unlike any other American whiskey I’ve tasted, the only nearest point of comparison being Anchor Steam’s 100% rye whiskey. You can really taste the powerful presence of the 6-year old, 95% rye, and definitely come away with the impression of depth brought to the mix by the 16-year, 80% rye. All in all, the mix of the two whiskies is well-done, and blends their features nicely.
I have to admit, this whiskey took some getting used to. The rye component is so hugely pronounced, and I didn’t find the whiskey as a whole to be very well balanced. But, taste is very subjective, and so you should also check out John Hansell’s review of this whiskey, which is very positive. I agree with him when he said, “in the end, the rye is the victor, emerging with a vengeance and giving the whisky a bold, warming spice finish”. Yet, this left me wanting for something I couldn’t put my finger on.
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