High West American Prairie Bourbon Review

This is a bottle I’ve had open for over a year, and with the new rare whiskey’s being release at the Manitoba Liquor Mart in a couple of weeks, I figured now is a great time to finish off some bottles and make room for some new ones.

You cannot get High West products here in Manitoba, but I was lucky enough to have a friend bring this bottle back for my from the good ol’ USA.  The bottle itself is pretty nice, with a huge honkin’ cork and some nice speckled glass.  This bourbon is made in Utah which is pretty unusual, and the High West Guys have gotten quite a reputation for making good whiskey which is why I wanted to try this one.  Another cool thing about this bottle is that 10% of the profits go to the American Prairie Reserve.

High West American Prairie Bourbon

Date Reviewed: October 27, 2020

Atmosphere: Sipping in one of my Baba’s pinwheel crystal glasses, on on a Tuesday night during the pandemic.

Distillery: High West Distillery 

Mash: 75% Corn, 20% Rye, 5% Barley

Age: 2 years and some older blended in

Type: Bourbon

ABV%: 45%

Price I Paid: It’s been so long, I don’t remember, but I want to say around $50 Canadian

Appearance:  Light amber, watered down honey

Nose:  I’m not sure if its because i’m drinking this out of a rocks glass instead of a typical Glencairn but there isn’t much of an alcohol/ethanol scent to it at all. Smells sweet, yet faint, nothing too dominant. The high corn/sweetness definitely comes through on the nose though.

Palate:  Still a lot of lingering sweet notes- but surprisingly woody considering it’s not aged very long.  A fairly simple tasting bourbon, but goes down sweet.  A few hints of chocolate and caramel not spicy at all.  Easy sipper.

Finish:  The finish is pretty short, but not in a terrible way.  No burn whatsoever, with a bit of a waxy mouthfeel. The bourbon leaves an oaky/woody aftertaste.

Conclusions:  If this was readily available here in Manitoba, I’d probably buy a bottle here and there, though I wouldn’t be lining up to get one.  It’s a reasonably priced, easy sipping, straight forward bourbon.  From what I’ve read, this would be considered one of High West’s lower level bourbons and I would definitely want to try the rest.  This seems like it would be a good mid level sipper, and introductory bourbon for people just getting into the sweet stuff.

Overall Score:  77/100 

Cheers.

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