High West Yippee Ki-Yay

High West was unabashed in showcasing the vermouth on this whiskey. Further still, they made the correct decision and went with a rye blend that would lean on a robust citrus and rye profile, in contrast to more herbal blends, in order to marry well with the secondary casking. The nose has plum jam, hawthorn, nutmeg, ground cinnamon, mulled apple juice, orange peel, faint and red licorice while the palate has orchard fruit, medium oak, black pepper, and new leather. At last in the finish the vermouth relents completely and punchy rye spice and barrel char with an excellent core warming take hold. Finish is sustained with lingering notes of nutmeg, clove, and slight brown raisins. After a minute it still sings with the barrel char being the last note remaining. The most ready comparison is its more muscular brother, A Midwinter Night's Dram. I once described it as "tasting like Christmas." Yippee-Ki-Yay may not taste like Christmas but it's definitely sometime in Advent.

Neat. Open for more than 6 months. Full disclosure, last time I had this I also ate bad food and the food poisoning took me down for two days. My body associated the poisoning with the vermouth. This is my first attempt at trying this again.... On the nose, the vermouth dominates (and I survived!) and doesn’t leave much room for the rest of the Whiskey. I am getting vanilla and toasted almond. Little raisin. Not much else. The mouth feel is smooth and thick despite the lower proof. Mmm, okay I like this a lot. The vanilla comes through so bright and vermouth complements it nicely. Toasted almond is hinted at but the vanilla is king here and comes back on the finish. Finish lasts quite a while too. Ah so glad I could try this again. I waited awhile, not to dare my body to self inflict a negative reaction. It’s such a solid, interesting dram. There is a lack of complexity but the flavors it has are so nice.

This is one of the strangest whiskies I'v had. The Vermouth and Syrah combine to give this one a very odd nose - herbal and menthol. This follows through on the palate as spicy herbal and menthol. It essentially tastes like a Manhattan in a bottle and was a bit jarring, mostly because of that menthol note I couldn't shake. Not my favorite but I could see other people really enjoying this.

Greensboro Buyers Club courtesy of @ridethalightin I like this, which does not surprise me given my like for the Double Rye. I can tell the finishing in the flavors. However, at twice the price of the DR, it is not twice as good. if I were going to drop over $70 for a bottle of High West, it would certainly be Rendezvous Rye which is my fav of all HW.

Since I like Rye to include High West Double Rye, this is very similar plus an added Vermouth finish. Enjoyed everything about it, smooth and sweet, but still a mouthful. Proof was just right flavorful but not overpowering

Nose: Honey, cinnamon, nutmeg (like a graham cracker), punchy spearmint amplifying the ethanol Palate: Cinnamon, plums, blackberries, mint on the back of my tongue Finish: Medium with lingering plums, spearmint, and clove