High West American Prairie Zinfandel Finish Store Pick Shelf Review

Shelf Review
Designed to give you all the quick hit information you need when you’re standing in front of your local liquor store’s whisky shelf.

High West has traditionally had a fantastic barrel selection program for stores and restaurants who want to come in and grab a unique barrel for their clients. Folks can come in and select anything from bourbons finished in barrels used to age High West’s Manhattan pre-mixed cocktails to rye whiskies finished in Islay peated whisky casks.

 This particular bottle is from Gelson’s grocery stores and features American Prairie Bourbon aged for 1 year and 8 months in barrels that formerly held Zinfandel red wine.

Age: Blend of whiskies from 2-13 years old finished for 1 year and 8 months in a Zinfandel barrel.

ABV: 50.2%

Cask: New oak and finished in Zinfandel barrels

MSRP: $45

Distillery Name: High West

Review Date: 12/29/20

Nose: The nose comes off dripping with wine influence. The barrels used to finish this whisky must have been tremendously rich because this whisky makes no apologies for showing off their impact. Sweetness is the predominate note here with juicy, red fruits, dusty wood and a slight minerality all come through as well.  

Palate: Just like the nose the wine influence almost overpowers the rest of the whisky. At first sip the taste comes off as very sweet, almost cloyingly so, with a big wood influence thrown in as well. And just like on the nose there are big orchard fruit notes, but they are almost reminiscent of overcooked fruits…. Fruits that have sat stewing on the stove for so long they they’ve lost their refreshing zing. There are hints of baking spices, but they can’t seem to poke through the red wine notes. The mouthfeel was thinner than I was expecting at this proof.

 Finish: Short to medium finish that is dominated by a strong cocktail bitter note. There were remnants of the wood experienced early, with the additional of an acidic touch as well. The finish is also exceedingly dry. Mouth puckeringly dry.

Would I buy again? This was an overall disappointing whisky for me. I have had some incredible experiences with High West expressions but in this case, the finishing overpowered everything else happening in the glass. With such a strong red wine influence this turned into a one note wonder pretty quickly. I would buy another High West store pick, but will be looking for something other than their red wine finishes.

 Score: 83