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Wednesday, June 5, 2019

High West Rendezvous Rye Barrel Select for T5C, barrel 4469

And then there was the Rendezvous. Bottled for the militant mavens of T5C, this barrel selection has one of the highest ABVs of all Rendezvous releases. No quirky finishes to it, just full-powered Rye. It needs no further introduction.


Product: Rendezvous Rye
Producer: High West
Distilleries: Barton and MGP
Type: Blend of Straight Rye Whiskies
Region: Indiana (MGP) and Kentucky (Barton)
Mashbills: Barton - 80% rye 10% corn 10% malted barley
MGP - 95% rye 5% malted barley
Maturation: American white oak
Barrel #: 4469
Bottle #: 124
Alcohol by Volume: 63.5%
(Thank you to Secret Agent Man)

Remarkably, the nose needs no water. There's lots of chocolate and cookie—actually, it's Twix. I'm smelling Twix bars. Then toasted oak, saline, lemons and blossoms. Roasted almonds and berry candy. With 30+ minutes in the glass, it gains coffee and malt notes. The palate is big but not hot. Lots of oranges, peach cobbler and honey. RYE. Very little vanilla. It has a fresh herbal side, think mint, basil and thyme leaves. Tart lemons and a whiff of smoke. It sticks the landing with unending waves of rye, rye, rye, rye. Mint, saline, rye bread, sweet lemon and wood smoke. Enormous.

As handsome as the boys of T5C (*voice cracks* Hi guys!), this is the dark lord of Rendezvous Rye. Thunderous in style, but remarkably easy drinking for the abv, this barrel has more complexity than anything else I've had from High West and a finish that adheres to the senses for a very long time. There's not a single weakness to be found in this, one of my favorite ryes.

Availability - Sold out
Pricing - ???
Rating - 90