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High West ryes


StraightNoChaser
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Used cooperage for the entire 21 years LB, that doesn't sound like something a US distiller would've done.

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Used cooperage for the entire 21 years LB, that doesn't sound like something a US distiller would've done.
Barton distilled for the Canadian market, never shipped/picked up, later bought by HW for their 21 year.
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The 21yr is a Barton Rye in used cooperage. At the time of distillation they were trying a number of different mashbills (and, I believe, yeasts), the idea being that, after the tests results were logged, they'd dump the whiskeys into their Canadian program. This particular lot was so tasty, that they held on to it. There really wasn't a program to put it in...couldn't be called 'Straight', and Barton wasn't about to bottle 80-100 barrels as a one-off product. So, there it sat...until David happened upon it.

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The 21yr is a Barton Rye in used cooperage. At the time of distillation they were trying a number of different mashbills (and, I believe, yeasts), the idea being that, after the tests results were logged, they'd dump the whiskeys into their Canadian program. This particular lot was so tasty, that they held on to it. There really wasn't a program to put it in...couldn't be called 'Straight', and Barton wasn't about to bottle 80-100 barrels as a one-off product. So, there it sat...until David happened upon it.

Thanks for the excellent info Mat!! I love the 21yr rye and am fortunate enough to be on my 3rd bottle. I have some very nice friends! :grin: unfortunately my wife finds this expression to be agreeable as well. I might need to decanter the rest and put something else in that bottle. :skep:

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unfortunately my wife finds this expression to be agreeable as well. I might need to decanter the rest and put something else in that bottle. :skep:

Hmm... devious, but likely effective. I'll need to remember this.... :o

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Oh I wouldn't say devious actually, there's a certain amount of detente in marriage and we guys have to stick together.

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Oh I wouldn't say devious actually, there's a certain amount of detente in marriage and we guys have to stick together.

:toast:

Very true. Give'em an inch and they'll take a mile. And that mile could translate into 750mL of HW21.

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Oh I wouldn't say devious actually, there's a certain amount of detente in marriage and we guys have to stick together.

It was meant in a more humorous vein, in the sense of "clever".

I note for the record that the chemist in me didn't even twitch at the idea of an improperly labeled bottle, 'cause indeed, we guys have to stick together.

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It was meant in a more humorous vein, in the sense of "clever".

I note for the record that the chemist in me didn't even twitch at the idea of an improperly labeled bottle, 'cause indeed, we guys have to stick together.

That's cool, I caught the "clever"ness. And improperly labeled bottles are not our friends. Remind me of that in the future if you see me post a thread called " Help! my hw21 tastes like JB rye!":lol:

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I left a 375ml bottle of HW21 @ my parents place in SLC and next time I visited, my mom had already used it for cooking... Aargh!!!!!

She did say that it was good cooking wine...

Should've relabeled it as facial cleanser or something.

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For me 'cooking with' means having whisky in the same room.

Edited by squire
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I left a 375ml bottle of HW21 @ my parents place in SLC and next time I visited, my mom had already used it for cooking... Aargh!!!!!

She did say that it was good cooking wine...

Should've relabeled it as facial cleanser or something.

Now that's funny

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  • 4 years later...

Sorry to revive an ancient thread but I'm amazed that HW continues to bottle Rendezvous Rye with 16 year old Barton stock. I'm assuming in good faith that they would maintain consistent blending ratios but has anyone noticed a difference over the years? 

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FWIW, I've been to a couple of different tastings of HW products where representatives of their company were present. They're totally honest and forthcoming about what they're bottling. You might want to contact them, or check out their website just to be sure, but I see no reason to question the provenance of what they're currently bottling as Rondevous Rye. It might be worth checking out since things may have changed since 2013.

 

Biba! Joe

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2 hours ago, Bbstout said:

Sorry to revive an ancient thread but I'm amazed that HW continues to bottle Rendezvous Rye with 16 year old Barton stock. I'm assuming in good faith that they would maintain consistent blending ratios but has anyone noticed a difference over the years? 

 

So to answer your question, Yes.  I have noticed a difference.  I started buying it in 2015 and the 2016 and 2017 batches have changed slightly.

Is it better?

Worse?

All I can tell you is that while I was at the distillery this past spring, they confirmed that there was more MGP 16 year going into rendezvous now than previous batches and also that the Barton 16 yr. rye was running low.

I've noticed that the 2016+ batches have a slightly more MGP taste (spicy with hints of dill).  2015 and less have more Barton taste (smooth, less spicy)

 

Any 2015 or older bottles I come across are "must buys" for me now.

That being said, the new batches are still darn good, but the price keeps going up... :unsure:

 

The "double rye" is in the same boat.

 

A couple years back, they released a "Rocky Mountain rye" that was a blend of Barton 16 year and MGP 16 year, so obviously they have 16 year stocks of both brands.

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2 hours ago, 0895 said:

 

So to answer your question, Yes.  I have noticed a difference.  I started buying it in 2015 and the 2016 and 2017 batches have changed slightly.

Is it better?

Worse?

All I can tell you is that while I was at the distillery this past spring, they confirmed that there was more MGP 16 year going into rendezvous now than previous batches and also that the Barton 16 yr. rye was running low.

I've noticed that the 2016+ batches have a slightly more MGP taste (spicy with hints of dill).  2015 and less have more Barton taste (smooth, less spicy)

 

Any 2015 or older bottles I come across are "must buys" for me now.

That being said, the new batches are still darn good, but the price keeps going up... :unsure:

 

The "double rye" is in the same boat.

 

A couple years back, they released a "Rocky Mountain rye" that was a blend of Barton 16 year and MGP 16 year, so obviously they have 16 year stocks of both brands.

I wasn't aware that any 16 year mgp (which would have been ldi at the time) was being bottled. According to Perkins it was only Barton stock.

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A blend of older Straight Rye whiskeys ranging in age from 5 to 19 years.
Straight Rye whiskeys: 95% rye, 5% barley malt from MGP; 53% rye, 37% corn, 10% from Barton Distillery; 80% rye, 10% corn, 10% barley malt from Barton Distillery

 

Copied from the website. Interesting that 5 to 19 years is stated but this thread clearly denotes that it is 6 year old LDI and 16 year Barton only using the 80-10-10 mashbill (double rye uses the 53-37-10)

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It was originally a blend of 6 and 16 year old ryes. What is on the label has probably changed recently to reflect what's going into the blend these days. If they purchased a bunch of 16 year old stock a few years ago, and some of it is still in barrels, it's probably 19 years old by now.

 

With Bourye, which I think is a yearly batch, they generally make it clear what the blend is made up from each year, but not the ratios of course. It's been a bit different every year.

 

The one bottle of Rendevouz Rye I've had, which was probably 2016 or 2017, was very heavy on the MGP, I didn't get much of what I suspect to be Barton that I get in say, 2015 Bourye. Saying that, I haven't had an older bottle of Rendevouz so I can't opine on whether the newer stuff is any better or worse.

Edited by EarthQuake
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There were originally two different mashbills of 16yo Barton rye, one a barely rye mashbill and one that was a higher rye (80? maybe). My recollection is that at least one of these is now long gone and I think it is the 80% mashbill.

 

The original HW 16yo Rocky Mountain Rye was made with 100% of the Barton 80% rye mashbill. Superb stuff! The rerelease a couple of year ago was a blend of 16+ yo MGP (Would have been made when it was LDI of course as noted above) and the lower rye mashbill 16yo Barton. Also quite good. I was concerned there would be a drop off but when I tried them SBS it was not the case. A little different but just as good.

 

The Rendezvous was always 6 MGP/16 Barton and I suspect it has more MGP than Barton than was in the past. If they still have Barton in stock it seems like it couldn't be very much.

 

I believe all of it was tanked, none to my knowledge is still sitting in the original barrels.

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12 hours ago, Bbstout said:

A blend of older Straight Rye whiskeys ranging in age from 5 to 19 years.
Straight Rye whiskeys: 95% rye, 5% barley malt from MGP; 53% rye, 37% corn, 10% from Barton Distillery; 80% rye, 10% corn, 10% barley malt from Barton Distillery

 

Copied from the website. Interesting that 5 to 19 years is stated but this thread clearly denotes that it is 6 year old LDI and 16 year Barton only using the 80-10-10 mashbill (double rye uses the 53-37-10)

Not sure the website is fully up to date. I would be surprised if they still had the 16yo 80% rye Barton that they would be putting in the blend. I would think it was much more valuable on its own! But anything is possible.

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  • 3 weeks later...
On 1/19/2018 at 12:16 PM, tanstaafl2 said:

Not sure the website is fully up to date. I would be surprised if they still had the 16yo 80% rye Barton that they would be putting in the blend. I would think it was much more valuable on its own! But anything is possible.

 

Screenshot_2018-02-08-14-39-52.jpg

 

It looks like they intended to change the blend at some point and maybe that is what is reflected on the website. I sent an email on this. They have always been transparent but now that they are corporate we will see.

Edited by Bbstout
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  • 2 months later...

Just got an email about this years Yippee Ki Yay from HW noticed something different in the blend worth noting that they still list it as finished double rye so one can assume this is what Double Rye is these days as well so looks like there easing their rye in while leaving the Barton in the blend for now:

Class & Type
• 95% rye, 5% barley malt from MGP

• 53% rye, 37% corn, 10% barley from Barton

• 80% rye, 20% malted rye from High West from High West Distillery

Blend
• A blend of straight rye whiskeys aged from 2 to 16 years

Edited by kevinbrink
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Seems amazing that they still have any of the Barton Rye, especially the 80 percent rye. Could there be more that they are buying???

 

Maybe they are putting it in the batch by the teaspoon!

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