As readers of this blog know, we are big High West fans. We know they don’t distill most of their juice themselves but who cares, its usually good and in the end that’s what matters, at least to us.
Son of Bourye is a blend of a Rye that has a mash bill of 95% Rye and 5% barley that is blended with a Bourbon with a mash bill of 75 % corn, 20% Rye and 5% barley. It is packaged in the same tall, cool looking old fashioned corked bottles as all the High West Whiskeys. It comes bottled at 92 proof and sells for around $47 and is somewhat available. Both the Rye and the Bourbon are aged at least 5 years.
Side note, just like the original Bourye, a lot of the juice comes from Four Roses. Also, while they call it Bourye, a blend of Bourbon and Rye, you can do the math with mash bill proportions and see that this is really just a Rye.
NOSE
Todd: Was not blown away, smelled slightly hot with nothing really jumping out as a dominate smell. But I did get a lot of aromas, all just kind of in the background. They included cinnamon, clove, cocoa, plum and yeast. Also a very slight bit of ethanol.
Ron: Agree with the nose smelling a little hot, a small, melted cube took care of that. I then got nice aromas of oak, clove, grain and spicy Rye. Slightly behind that was anise and the cinnamon that Todd got.
TASTE
Todd: Too hot for my taste, not impressed neat, it really needs ice or water. After things calmed down I got pepper and Rye up front with almonds, citrus, cinnamon and a slight bitterness.
Ron: Unlike Todd, I found it not as hot as I expected from the nose. Spice, Rye and oak upfront followed by anise, and clove. After the ice had melted some, slight bits of cinnamon and cherry emerged.
FINISH
Todd: Medium to medium-long with a slight burn on the tongue and a faint taste of caramel. Not a lot going on with the finish.
Ron: Great warm, medium-long finish with hints of Rye and cherries.
OVERALL
Todd: A decent drink but at a little too high of a price. That is the first time I have thought that about a High West product. They say the age is at least 5 years, I would guess from the lack of complexity that is right at 5 years. $47 is too much in my mind to pay for just a 5 year old Whiskey.
Ron: A very tasty Whiskey but maybe it is slightly overpriced for the experience. I liked it better than Todd.
Nose 3.75 out of 5
Taste 7.5 out of 10
Finish 3.75 out of 5
Total score 15 out of 20 Barrels
Well we were somewhat hard on our beloved High West, we guess there’s a first time for everything. It was not that is was bad, just not enough going on to justify the price. The price also makes it un-conducive as a mixer, even though it does make a good cocktail. We recommend you try some other High West Whiskey, most are very good.
One final thought, we were so surprised by our reaction to Son of Bourye that we questioned our taste buds. This was Todd’s bottle, Ron has one as well that we sampled a few weeks ago and thought we enjoyed drinking his a bit more. We are going to taste Ron’s again, possibly side to side with Todd’s. It was a bottle from last years issue, so that just may be the difference. If anything changes we will update the post.