High West Bourbon Bottled in Bond
High West Bottled in Bond 2025 is the brand’s first nationally released bourbon made entirely in-house, distilled and aged at its facility in Wanship, Utah. The bourbon was fermented with three different yeast strains, including S. diastaticus — rare in American whiskey — to enhance fruity aromatics and flavor complexity. Sustainably sourced grains and high-elevation aging contribute to the whiskey’s profile, which features notes of honeycrisp apple, baking spices, graham cracker, and dried fruit.
The 2025 release follows the brand’s first-ever bottled-in-bond whiskey, a rye that was sold in limited distribution in the first half of 2024. Although High West is perhaps best known for its rye blends, Director of Distilling Isaac Winter tells us that the brand has been producing bourbon “in earnest” since a distillery expansion about five years ago. Winter says High West will remain a blending house first and foremost, citing its use of sourced whiskeys like MGP’s popular 21% rye bourbon. However, he’s eager to craft in-house whiskeys to complement the lineup, particularly via bottled-in-bond releases that could include bourbon, rye, and American single malt.
The 2025 bottled-in-bond bourbon was distilled from a mash bill of 64% non-GMO yellow corn from Colorado and 36% rye from Idaho. Winter says this particular high-rye recipe allows High West to “play at the edge of spice” and foster a profile in line with the “big, spicy, in-your-face” ethos the brand is known for. High West sources the vast majority of its rye grain from Mountain Malt and Burtenshaw Farms, which employs no-till farming and industrial hemp crop rotation to help maximize sustainability and carbon sequestration.
