Mile High Spirits: Wheated Bourbon Barrel #20k12.2

Whiskey Slickers single barrel

MSRP: $77.99 Mashbill: 70% corn, 20% wheat (MN white wheat, CO white wheat, Cara wheat), 10% malted barley Proof: 135.8 Age: 7 Years old

Nose: a bright and gooey cherry immediately greets you, it's followed shortly after by a shortbread cookie like note, as this sits in the glass, it starts to really come into itself and reveal some nice baking spice and gingerbread like spice notes, some tobacco, dark grape, golden raisin, and a hint of a musty note on the back end

Palate: the palate starts a little hot with a hit of ethanol, but quickly fades to reveal that really wonderful cherry and shortbread note again, it's followed by a lot of really nice stone fruit notes with peach and plum, a bit of an herbal tea like note, before finishing with an orange zest and tobacco note Finish: medium to long finish where just a thick cane sugar sweetness coats your tongue and lingers on the palate

Rating: Hoard it (Out of Hoard, Buy, Try, Pass)

Thoughts: I absolutely adore this bottling. I have had a lot of Mile High Spirits that drank quite hot or wasn't quite for me, but there are definitely some good single barrels, and this is amongst the best of them. I think that having this be a wheated bourbon only helps the profile that much more and softening some of the edges that Mile High can have. I'm obsessed with the cherry shortbread note because I think that it is wildly unique and carries this into being a dessert type pour.

What's the Deal?: Mile High Spirits out of Denver Colorado doesn't release a whole lot of single barrels throughout the year, and only a micro portion of those are wheated bourbon single barrels. I am sure that this is a wildly good single barrel pick in general, but if this is the caliber of wheated single barrels, then that is exactly why you should care. If you've been curious about Mile High Spirits because you love the artwork as much as I do, look no further than their wheated bourbon. This particular bottle is my favorite release out of Mile High to date. Mile High Spirits has been around for 14 years now, and just opened up a new tasting lounge at the Denver International Airport, but they also just shut down their downtown Denver distillery tasting room. Hopefully this is just a way to temporarily save on costs as they focus on operations, but it's even more of a reason why you should pay attention to Mile High Spirits. Help them stick around, support a small brand, and pick up some damn fine whiskey while you're doing.