American Whiskey Review #12: A Midwinter Night’s Dram Act 7, Scene 2

Distillery: Blend of High West (80% rye, 20% malted barley) and MGP (95% rye, 5% malted barley).

Region: Blend

ABV: 49.3%

Age: NAS

Price: $7.50 for a 2oz sample.

Color: 1.6, Mahogany/Henna Notes.

Nose (according to the wife): Rich, dark cherries along with a bit of apple, some ginger, and rye.

Palate: Medium to slightly thin mouthfeel. The first note you get is a mix of salted caramel and something that really reminds me of kettle corn (despite there being no corn whiskey here). The salted bits hit you up front and then give way into the sweetness of the caramel and kettle corn. Some rye comes in afterwards followed by a dark cherry cola. Notes of well-aged oaked and dried cherries from a cereal box finish this off. With some water, more of the rye comes out as does even more salted caramel.

Finish: The finish is medium to long in length. It starts off with the cherry cola notes from the palate and then ends with an incredibly creamy salted caramel and a bit of rye.

Conclusion: I’ve not had a chance to try the High West’s famous Midwinter Night’s Dram series before. It sells out incredibly fast so I was really grateful to get my hands on this. I’ve got to say, it’s a really wonderful whiskey. It’s easy to drink but also packed full of flavor. The salted caramel, cherry, and rye play really well together and compliment each other throughout. I wish there was a little bit more complexity in this one but it’s a really well put together dram as it is. Would I buy a bottle? Yes.

Final Score: 87.

American Whiskey review #12, Rye Whiskey Review #2, Whisky Network Review #147

Scoring Legend:

• 96-100: The perfect dram, nectar of the gods.
• 90-95: Near perfect, there is something truly special about this whisky.
• 85-89: Amazing, will always try to keep a bottle of this in my collection (if feasible).
• 80-84: Very Good, maybe only one minor nitpick about the whisky keeping it here.
• 75-79: Good, quite enjoyable to drink.
• 70-74: Solid, wouldn’t go out of my way to get it.
• 60-69: Meh, still drinkable.
• Below 59: If you have a bottle of this, start cooking with it instead.