High West Distillery’s A Midwinter Night’s Dram

OK, OK, I know it’s spring.  After a long and horrible winter with the polar vortex of hell and ridiculous late season snows that sapped the very last of our collective will to live, now it’s spring!  Cherries are blossoming.  Lilacs are blooming.  Redbuds are budding.

And it’s damn raining. Not just raining, but like flood warnings and “test of the emergency broadcast system” beeps screaming out of my phone raining.  It’s sump pumps running all day long raining.  It’s curl up under your blankie and don’t bother with a bra because you’re not going anywhere anyway raining.

So screw it.  I’m reviewing A Midwinter Night’s Dram on May Day.

A Midwinter Night’s Dram, the latest release by my new besties over at High West Distillery, was released this past February, but is still only available at their distillery and gift shop.  It is scheduled for release in liquor stores nationwide in October, so really I should wait to review this until September or so.

But here’s the problem.  There’s no way it will last in my house that long.  Don’t worry, I’ll remind you in the fall on facebook and twitter.

A Midwinter Night’s Dram is made from the fabulous and unparalleled Rendezvous Rye, aged for several additional months in port and French oak barrels.  Be still my heart.  I haven’t had a rye that has been through this sort of aging treatment before, but I love Rendezvous Rye and port aging is generally a win for me with Scotches and bourbons, so I was beyond excited to get a chance to sample the Dram.

On the nose, my first impression is one of candied plums.  Maybe slightly dried, but not too raisiny.  There is also a strong vanilla note.  Under those dominant aromas, you also get a hint of the rye botanicals, some burnt sugar, and cocoa.

The nose is absolutely intoxicating.  It smells like dessert, but not caramel syrupy.  It smells like a restrained schmancy dessert with fruit, mint, and unsweetened cocoa, with chantilly vanilla-scented cream and something lightly brûléed.  Luscious.

On the tongue, the vanilla hits first on the tip of the tongue, followed immediately by chocolate just behind.  As it travels across the tongue, the stone fruits blend themselves in gently and with elegance and are joined by a slightly hot cinnamon burn.

The finish has caramel, vanilla, and fruit, along with the rye spice that was pretty much absent in the mouth for me. The finish is initially powerful, but trails off fairly quickly leaving a longer more gentle finish of vanilla, rye, and cinnamon.

The mouthfeel is creamy and decadent.  This is dessert in a glass.

A Midwinter Night’s Dram tastes nothing like Rendezvous Rye.  You can smell the rye in the nose, but in the mouth, nope.  This is its own creation, one with an after-dinner cordial quality.  It’s sweet and clinging, but somehow manages to avoid seeming syrupy.  Maybe it’s the freshness of the rye that keeps the Dram from being overpoweringly sweet.

Another home run from David Perkins and High West Distillery.

If you get a chance to go to their distillery, do it!  And have some of their 21-year Rocky Mountain Rye for me while you’re there.  But if not, be on the hunt for A Midwinter Night’s Dram in stores in October with a retail price around 80 bucks.  It might be hard to find, but just remember that “the course of true love never did run smooth.”

Anyway, smooth is totally overrated.