High West A Midwinter Nights Dram Act 7 Scene 5
49.3% ABV - Utah, United States
Nose: Sweet, ripe plum, dried fruits, baking spice, clove, cinnamon, wood spices, and overall very tame for the ABV.
Taste: Wow—baked fruit pies, baking spices, vanilla, pie crust, caramel, and more baked pies. Did I mention the baked pie?
Finish: Lasting oak and wood notes, with some background baking spices, vanilla and dried fruits.
Boy-oh-boy, was it ever a treat to have the surprise opportunity to purchase this! My wife and I attended a blind tasting that was organized as a head-to-head tournament of six different whiskies. She picked this as her favourite and (thankfully) insisted that we got a bottle. I definitely have grown to like it… when she lets me have some!
High West has a cult following—especially for this series, A Midwinter Nights Dram. It’s commonly traded on the secondary market fetching prices easily double the MSRP… all the more reason to be so thankful we were able to obtain this for under $200 CAD (I lost the receipt so hopefully memory serves me well).
I was so close to visiting the High West Distillery in Park City, Utah. I was scheduled to present at a conference in Salt Lake City and had arranged to fly in a couple days early to enjoy some sight-seeing and whiskey drinkin’. This had been scheduled for Spring 2020, so I think that’s enough said to understand why those plans were canceled… nonetheless I’ve got the whiskey in the glass and my good health, so maybe I’ll be able to visit another day!
Details: A blend of straight rye whiskies finished in French oak port barrels. Lot code: L131 2019 097 09:41:33.
Tasting Notes (Official): The rye forms a beautiful base of vanilla, caramel, and cinnamon; the port barrels made from French oak enhance with notes of plums, dried fruits and provides a spice accent. For us, A Midwinter Nights Dram tastes like a proper Christmas plum pudding with lovely mulling spices, dried fruits, and crème anglaise.
Tasted 15 February 2023. (Posted 15 February 2023.)
