High West’s newest release of A Midwinter Night’s Dram Act VI is the first in the series to include their own distillate in the final blend.
High West has been slowly beginning to add rye from their own stills to their more prominent super premium releases this year, including the most recent batch of their Double Rye.
High West didn’t share the blending proportions for this batch (they often share age, proof, and distillery for the whiskeys blended to make products like Bourye), but stated that it was one of the components to this year’s blend. “For this sixth rendition of A Midwinter Night’s Dram, we’re proud to add an extra personal touch by including our very own High West rye whiskey in the finished product,” Master Distiller Brendan Coyle said.
Midwinter Night’s Dram is a blend of rye whiskeys which are married and then finished in French oak port casks. This gives the final, finished whiskey additional notes of rich red fruit and sweetness.
Port finished whiskeys continue to be a stable if small trend in the American whiskey world; both the 1792 and Angel’s Envy brands have port finished bourbons, and Sazerac’s Bowman brand recently debuted a port finish as well.
Here are the tasting notes for A Midwinter Night’s Dram Act VI, according to High West:
“The nose reveals notes of maple toasted pecans, cinnamon custard Jaffa cake, star anise, gentian root, cinnamon pine cones, sweet oatmeal raisin cookies and fresh Bing cherries. Dried black cherries, fig syrup, molasses, leather, dark chocolate almonds, and spiced cherry jam on gingerbread toast flood the palate, while spiced clove and blackberries, candied ginger, wooden spice box and orange peel linger for a robust finish.”
Midwinter Night’s Dram is available now nationwide in limited quantities for $100.
