Review: High N’ Wicked Cask Strength Bourbon and Rye (2024)
Only a few months ago we brought you updated reviews of Wyoming’s High N’ Wicked sourced flagship whiskeys — a bourbon and a rye. Now we dive back in with fresh looks at these two whiskeys in their full-on cask strength incarnations.
High N’ Wicked Cask Strength Straight Bourbon – The same Kentucky sweet mash of 51% corn, 39% rye, and 10% malted barley, aged for five years in #4 char barrels. That big cherry note on the nose is present and accounted for again here, tempered by ample vanilla and chocolate. Clearly racy with plenty of alcohol, there’s not much spice (or mint) detectable underneath the boozy attack. The palate continues that theme: Lots of cherry-chocolate character, ample sweet vanilla, baking spice, and a more evident wood influence. It’s not overtly lumberyardy but rather evocative of well-polished wood, with a finish that takes you on a trip into an evergreen forest. The lighter notes of banana are absent here unless you add ample water, which also reveals some of that minty quality evident in the standard strength offering. I know it’s trendy to prefer hazmat whiskeys like this, but for my money the rack offering has a more complex character that needs no doctoring to fully enjoy. On the other hand, it’ll only cost you a few bucks extra, should you wish to experiment with it. 123.2 proof. B+ / $88
High N’ Wicked Cask Strength Straight Rye – New Riff Distilling rye, made from a mash of 91% rye and 9% malted barley, aged 5 years in #4 char barrels. Much hotter than the 98.2 proof standard edition, giving it plenty to work with on the nose. Racy notes of caraway and dill are backed by (again) a heavy hint of green onion and, as expected, a mountain of boozy ethanol. Time in glass encourages a note of crumbled tea leaf to come into focus. That tea and a persistent caraway quality dominate on the palate alongside milder but present notes of camphor, making for a quite sharp and aggressive experience — considerably punchier than the standard rye, which is tempered by a buttery palate. Nothing of the sort here: Fiery, scorched grains and some creosote linger well into the finish, though the notes of orange peel, cloves, and cayenne at least give you something to cling to. Again, I’d stick with the lower abv expression — or BYO water to give this expression some much-needed tempering. 124 proof. B / $88
High N' Wicked Cask Strength Straight Bourbon
$88
