In a world full of cask finishes, it's quite something if you've got a cask finish that can catch a double-take. Well, Utah's High West didn't just catch curious glances once, they went in for a three-peat!

We've got the High West The Prisoner's Share that's finished in Californian cult wine The Prisoner's's Red Blend Wine barrels, and then we have High West and legendary Tequila-maker Casa Noble with The Noble Share that showcases a finish in Marques de Casa Noble Anejo Tequila barrels, and finally the High West Yippee Ki-yay that's finished in Vermouth and Syrah barrels.

Don't you just love it when a whisky just makes itself utterly undeniable?

And so at the annual Whisky Journey festival in Singapore that pulls together an immense number of distilleries for a showcase - with a free tasting at every booth, totalling over 30 exhibitors and 300 whiskies - we had to make a stop at the Drinks99 booth to get a taste of their very unique High West picks! 

But before we get into that, let's do a quick recap.

High West finds itself in a rather unusual location, Utah, which isn't quite where you think of when you think American whisky. But hey, neither is a biochemist founder. And so in 2006, biochemist David Perkins and his wife, Jane, had set out to become Utah's first legal distillery since Prohibition, having been inspired by none other than red-waxed Maker's Mark. Perkins was a big fan of the Old West, and as he got into Utah's whisky history, combined with having found that Park City, Utah, was once home to an illustrious saloon in 1884 called Miners, he was convinced that he had to make his dream a reality. And so Perkins would revamp a historic old livery stable where he would set up his distillery and of course, a saloon and restaurant.

As it so happens the High West Saloon is located at the bottom of Park City Resort's Quittin' Time ski run, which gives it the unique accolade of being the world's first and only ski-in gastro-distillery. In 2015, High West inaugurated a new distillery in Wanship, Utah, which now accommodates tours and houses a much larger production capacity.

In 2016, High West had by then become hugely successful on the backs of having created some phenomenal whisky blends, ryes and also the incredibly cult followed and collected A Midwinter Night's Dram, all of which have shown High West's great hand at superb cask finishings, and thus would be acquired by Constellation Brands, which is perhaps best known for importing Corona and Modelo Mexican beers to the US, as well as owning some iconic American wineries from Robert Mondavi, to Kim Crawford, Ruffino and The Prisoner Wine Company, and of course Casa Noble Tequila.

Consequently, you can see how High West has fully taken advantage of being part of the Constellation Brands family to pull off some very interesting cask finishes here from its fellow stablemates - it's not just another red wine or Tequila finish, it's The Prisoner Red Blend and Casa Noble, two very popular names!

So let's get right into it!

PS. Drinks99 carries in Singapore a full portfolio of drinks across every major category, with whiskies such as High West and Compass Box, wines like Sea Change, Takamaka rum from Seychelles, El Tequileno agaves, Mr Black coffee liqueur, Four Pillars and NAO gins, and a whole spread of bar essentials - if you're looking for any of these, you know where to find them.

Whisky Review: High West The Prisoner's Share Whiskey, 51% ABV

If you're from the US, you probably already know The Prisoner's Red Blend, and if you aren't from the US or aren't yet familiar with it, it's an incredibly popular Californian red wine that's incredibly rich and opulent, really jammy and juicy, with lots of lush dark fruits of blackberries, plums and prunes. On the label is a very striking, brooding image from Spanish painter Francisco Goya, which is where the wine's name comes from. It's primarily made from Zinfandel grape, which is often synonymous with winemaking in California, with then also a smaller proportion of Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, Petite Sirah and Charbono varieties. It's a bread and butter staple table wine, it doesn't claim or pretend to be artisanal or high-end, but it is also very much iconic for being amongst the first to break that mass-premium barrier. Wine geeks can often be too snooty about it, but even more often, they're really just incensed about its commercial success.

Regardless, that we have a blend of aged straight rye and straight bourbon whiskies finished in it, is definitely something worth checking out simply because the wine from which its barrels are used to finish the whiskies in is so distinctive and recognisable. There's not much information on the composition of the whiskies in here, or what they were aged in prior to the The Prisoner Red Blend barrel finishing, but it's been said to contain whiskies 4-15 years old.

For this tasting, Drinks99 kindly even offers a companion little tipple of the Prisoner Red Blend wine itself so that you can find the wine's influences in the whisky! Very cool!

Tasting Notes

Colour: Amber / Copper

Aroma: Immediately really luscious, dark and rich, with all those juicy black fruits of plums, blackberries and prunes. There's an air of mustiness of old leather, tobacco and antique drawers too, with then raspberry and blackcurrant fruit roll ups and syrupy jamminess of poptart jelly filling, also a light tartness of hawthorn. Beneath is a canvas of honey and caramel, malty butter cookies, sprinkled on baking spices of cinnamon and nutmeg. It's almost reminiscent of English redcurrant puffs. Soft tones too of iris florals.

Taste: Really malty, with then that richness of plums, prunes and black grapes, along with lightly tart red fruits of redcurrants, raspberries and hawthorns, once again in the form of fruit jams, mixed in with brown sugar, cacao nibs and baking spices. It's showing a good cohesiveness of the whisky and the red wine barrel. Light wafts of that signature High West mint jelly, and also a little bit of dark chocolate and a slight balsamic quality with also nuggets of candied ginger.

Finish: More savouriness comes through of barrel char, still carrying some of those raspberry and blackberry jams, also plum and prune compote, with the spice now building up. Brown sugar, burnt brown sugar, dark chocolate, almonds, vanilla cream, all begin to show up in what feels like an incredibly long and lush finish. It's a seamless and rich finish with still lingering deep tones of cherry jams, bramble compote and vanilla cream that persists.

My Thoughts

As expected from the already jammy richness of The Prisoner Red Blend's wine, this has definitely rubbed off on High West where we get loads of these juicy bramble jams and jellies, yet impressively it's come across really cohesive and well-integrated, with the red and black fruits melded into the whisky nicely yet never overpowering or out of whack, where High West's signature profile still very much apparent! Here we find really juicy and comforting dark fruit aromas, with the body luscious and with a light tartness, and the finish really developing superbly, showing all manners of burnt brown sugar savouriness, fruit compote and vanilla cream that is delivered seamlessly on a really long finish! 

We can't help but find this reminiscent of High West's A Midwinter's Night Dram except here it's broader and more lush, as compared to A Midwinter's Night Dram's compactness and concentration, as well as showcasing a broader palette of tart red fruits to brooding dark fruits. If you're a fan of High West's A Midwinter's Night Dram, then this is something you definitely have to try!

Whisky Review: High West x Casa Noble The Noble Share, 52% ABV

Now Casa Noble comes from Maestro Tequilero Jose Pepe Hermosillo, who is a 7th generation Tequila maker, with his family's Tequila-making dating back to 1776 in Jalisco, Mexico. Whilst the brand Casa Noble was only founded in 1997, it's already well-regarded for being certified organic and for being one of the few to use only estate-grown Blue Weber Agave that's well matured (a whopping 11 years old at harvest) and also triple distilling their Tequila and ageing it in French oak (as opposed to American oak).

For this collaboration, High West used a blend of 4-10 year old rye whiskies that was then finished in Casa Noble's Marques Anejo French Oak barrels for 6 months. Further to that, a portion of the final blend was also finished in Amburana barrels.

Tasting Notes

Colour: Amber

Aroma: Candied with notes of caramel and brown sugar glazed over brighter fruits of grapefruits, peaches and cranberries, with also a side of grassiness and a slight bitterness of angelica roots. It's luscious and thick, with also a sprinkle of spices of cloves and nutmeg. Delicate white florals garnished around the top.

Taste: It's rather thick, with a good richness of brown sugar and caramel, here striking a herbal tone of manuka honey and Pei Pa Koa herbal cough syrup, eucalyptus too, with then that distinct agave vegetal quality. At the back there's more on stewed plums and black licorice. The body is supple with a dominant herbal and spiced character that's rounded out by the richness; there's lots of cinnamon on here. Light air of mustiness of old leather.

Finish: A shot of espresso comes through and lingers on, with then also dark chocolates and cacao powder. It finishes off dry here, underscored by a bark and root tannin, yet not overpowering or straining. A lingering note of angelica and unsweetened tortoiseshell jelly (guilingao).

My Thoughts

This is a very intriguing and very interesting whisky - it's incredibly complex and presents a total exploration into herbal and earthy dimensions, both flavour-wise and texturally, without going overboard. It does seem like the Casa Noble influence here isn't as strong as the Amburana, which really gives it this strong cinnamon kick, with the Anejo Tequila casks bringing more in terms of the aromatics of the peaches, grapefruits and grassiness, which I found incredibly beguiling and lovely. On the palate, it hones in on that herbal earthy bit on the nose and really delves in, bringing our these herbal roots and bark spices that are rarely seen in most whiskies. Kudos to the folks at High West for managing to do so in a way that's still very balanced and structured, with the flavours cohesive and sufficiently spaced out. This herbal root-y quality carries all the way through the finish, delivering more of a dryness at the end, although it doesn't quite get into bitter territory.

I suspect this might be a sleeper hit for just how distinctive it is, and I could see this scratching a very specific itch! This definitely has cult potential.

Whisky Review: High West Yippee Ki-Yay, 46% ABV

And finally we have the High West Yippee Ki-Yay. This is a blend of 2-16 year old Straight Rye whiskies that has evolved in composition over the years of its release, having originally started off as having been sourced from MGP and Barton initially, before transitioning to MGP, Barton, and also High West's own distilled whiskies, before finally ending off as a blend of just MGP and High West whiskies, all of which was first aged in new charred white American Oak and then very uniquely finished in Vermouth and Syrah wine French Oak barrels.

Originally released in 2015 to commemorate Repeal Day, it was since discontinued in 2020. It's often said that High West was ahead of the bottled cocktail game and that the Yippee Ki-Yay was essentially a Negroni / Boulevardier / Manhattan in a bottle! 

Tasting Notes

Colour: Amber

Aroma: Rather clean and mellow, even quite textured. It opens with orange jelly, caramel coated apples, touch of wet stone, sarsaparilla, mint and eucalyptus, with bold baking spices of cloves and anise, and then more caramel at the back. It's supple and with good richness, incredibly aromatic and with time settles on candied sour plum candy and preserved sour plums.

Taste: Medium bodied, plush and rich, really supple, almost syrupy in texture. It persists with the orange jellies, and a more herbal quality of eucalyptus and manuka honey, with then some savouriness at the back. More on orange lollies, backed by brown sugar, with finally some slightly vegetal notes of agave.

Finish: Alittle more medicinal and herbal here, of cough syrup with a dash of white pepper, that's then backed by a honeyed richness. That pepperiness lingers, with now some cream, cough syrup, dried oranges, and a persistence of that medicinal bitterness.

My Thoughts

True to form, this is precisely a negroni cocktail in a bottle! Those orange citruses, brown sugar, baking spices, greenness, with that medicinal and herbal quality comes through perfectly here, in true fidelity, with perhaps more richness and cohesiveness than any negroni I've tried. This feels more textured and with a more supple base. It's really nicely layered and well composed, with a good balance and really articulate, which is all the more impressive given that this was done using a series of cask finishes and blending, as opposed to putting together a cocktail by recipe! The High West Yippee Ki-Yay will surely go down as a whisky that's incredibly beloved, memorable and will certainly be missed! What a cool experiment from a time before canned RTD cocktails! Definitely an artefact in whisky history!