Midwinters Night Dram Act 6 Scene 4
Intro: From High Wests’ website - Nose: Maple toasted pecans, cinnamon custard, Jaffa cake, star anise, gentian root, cinnamon pine cones, oatmeal raisin cookie, fresh Bing cherriesTaste: Teeming with dried black cherries, fig syrup, molasses, leather, dark chocolate almonds, spiced cherry jam on gingerbread toast
Finish: Spiced clove and blackberries, candied ginger, wooden spice box, orange peel.
Review: So just right off, this is a special release beyond the regular release of Midwinters Night Dram, this on is the first to contain High West’s own rye blend! Good on you fellas! I love this dram, and recently I just learned that it is Rendevous Rye finished in French oak port barrels...if you haven’t tasted port finished bourbons or ryes, this is the very best, and the very worst is Angels Envy.
UPDATE! The nose…Bodnar, a Pennsylvania dutch prick, came over this evening, and we sampled it. I couldn’t put my finger on one of the most pungent aromas from this bottle…IT’s GRAPE JUICE! Like concord grape juice smells…that’s it!
The nose...you get the port right away and the rye! Oh man the nose is stout...it’s live with Christmas spices and I dare say it...port. Smelling other port finished whiskeys you can pick it out like JDub picks out his armpit deodorant dingle berries. Unlike deodorant dingle berries, this is topshelf in terms of complexity.
The first sip...now I must confess, I have a new technique for trying this rye. Our good friend Carl had his dram in a coniac glass, says the dram opens up to a new level of flavors, so, I used my wild turkey neat glass for this tasting, warmed by my hands to see how it changes. Zero, I mean zero burn when consuming it in this manner. I don’t know how it happens but it’s amazing how the slight warming of the glass brings out a more robust flavor profile.
Alright, the first sip...warm spicy flavors that start on the front of your tongue and by the time it’s swallowed that has all transformed into the sweet rye flavors of vanilla and cinnamon. The second sip...the finish doesn’t warm the chest or stomach. It’s super mellow and imparts a spice on the pallet like Cinnabon...ok not Cinnabon. Third sip...it’s got a unique rye flavor that’s hard to explain, no other whiskey product brings to the fight this flavor profile. It’s like Christmas spices...I can’t think of anything else to say.
Is it worth the $?
It keeps going up and up in price, I paid $90 for this bottle and it’s just an annual release. Since I am a collector it’s worth the annual investment. If you love to try whiskeys snag it.