Up today is the value version of High West, a brand that we have enjoyed over the years. Think Bourye, Son of Bourye, Rendezvous Rye, etc. While most of their offerings have slowly gone up in price, Double Rye has stayed very affordable. The double in the name refers to the fact that this is a blend of two ryes. From their website “A blend of column and pot-still whiskies, aged a minimum of two years. Curated to highlight the wonderful, bold spice character that comes from high rye whiskies”. Hey, two ryes should be better than one.
High West Double Rye comes in the same tall rustic-looking corked bottle as do all of the High West expressions. It is 92 proof, sells for $30-$35, and can be found at most liquor stores. It is a blend of a 95% rye, 5% malted barley mash bill, and an 80% rye, 20% malted rye mash bill. The age of the first is just over two years while the age of the second is between two and seven years. There is some disagreement on the web about that second mash bill. High West says nothing about it on their website, the sites we found had the above blend, but we did find one site that said the second rye has corn in it. In the end, does it really matter?
As mentioned above, we have, in the past, been fans of High West, but it has been a minute since either of us has had it. The age, especially of the first rye, being only two years makes this a “barely legal” rye in our mind. But on the other hand, if most sites are right about the mash bill, this stuff is way over the 51% rye needed to be called a rye. As to why the pic above has two bottles, we think that the difference is the one on the left was completely sourced rye while the one on the right has some of their own juice. Not sure on that though.
NOSE
Todd: Dark fruit and rye with some hints of wet stone and pepper.
Matt: Rye comes on strong with a touch of orange peel. Ice brings out more orange.
TASTE
Todd: Rye, fruit, and some type of spice. Very smooth as well. Ice brings out the flavors. Not overly complex.
Matt: Rye is the major taste with grain, pepper, and cinnamon rounding out the experience. Ice brings out some sweetness.
FINISH
Todd: Medium-long with some more pepper.
Matt: Medium with a light spice and more cinnamon.
OVERALL
Todd: Not bad, not necessarily good either. Not a lot stands out.
Matt: Agree, not really that complex.
Nose 3.25 out of 5
Taste 7 out of 10
Finish 3 out of 5
Total score, 13.25 out of 20 barrels.
It seems Double Rye did not meet our expectations, either that or our memory of times past with High West has been muddled over the years. It did not have anything on the nose or taste that really stood out besides the rye. The finish is the same, just slight hints of some other flavors. We both were expecting a little more complexity from a High West product. Having said that, we did find this bottle on sale for $29, so it is pretty budget-friendly. It also did make a more than decent Old Fashioned.
Final thoughts, at the current price, we recommend buying a bottle and see for yourself. If like us, you are not overly impressed, as we said, it makes a good cocktail. Also, you might like to taste only rye, nothing wrong with that. We will probably keep a bottle of High West Double Rye around, not a lot of ryes at that price so it can become our staple when we feel like an Old Fashion or Manhattan.