Rendezvous Rye

Rendezvous Rye
High West Distillery
Park City, Utah
ABV: 46%
92 Proof

High West has started to release this as a limited seasonal offering and as soon as I saw it in the store I picked up a bottle. It met my expectations as usual.

The bottle gives a bit of history as to why the release is named Rendezvous Rye. It commemorates the first recorded whiskey-fest out West from 1825 to 1840. It was an annual summer gathering of mountain men to exchange pelts for supplies. Alcohol was not part of the supplies the first year of the gathering and it was quickly corrected the next time. High West’s take on this blend is having a higher proportion of unmalted rye to give it a unique flavor-profile with notes of spicy cinnamon, caramel, honey, mint, and vanilla. It is also not filtered so you can see some of the sediments in the drink which is pretty unusual.

The smell once poured is smooth and mellow, mostly caramel and vanilla notes. The taste is the opposite though, an immediate assault of that spicy cinnamon and then it subsides almost entirely after a few seconds with little aftertaste making it a very pleasant experience overall. The bottle retails around 70 dollars and I think it is worth the price if you can find it during the release window.