Credit: Lost Cargo
The Prisoner’s Share is a wine-finished bourbon and rye blend from High West Distillery. It is finished for an undisclosed amount of time in French oak barrels used to age The Prisoner Red Blend.
The base whiskey is a blend of bourbons and ryes from High West and sourced from other distilleries, and aged between 4 and 15 years:
- Bourbon: 75% corn, 21% rye, 4% barley malt (MGP)
- Bourbon: 78% corn, 10% rye, 12% malted barley (undisclosed distillery)
- Bourbon: 78.5% corn, 13% rye, 8.5% malted barley (undisclosed distillery)
- Rye: 95% rye, 5% barley malt (MGP)
- Rye: 80% rye, 20% Malted Rye (High West)
Both The Prisoner Wine Company and High West are owned by the same parent company, Constellation Brands. It was released alongside The Prisoner’s Complicit Red Blend, a wine partially aged in High West’s bourbon and rye barrels.
“While finishing whiskey in red wine barrels has grown in popularity in recent years, our team knew we could still create something special in collaboration with The Prisoner. We dove into our whiskey inventory to determine what unique lots exceeded our sensory expectations and could be used in this blend. True to High West’s nature, those lots were blended until we found the most balanced and complex expression
– Brendan Coyle, High West Master Distiller
In November 2023, High West released that the second and final batch would be released starting that month.
Tasting Notes
Tasting notes provided by High West. 1Tasting Notes
Nose
Dried raspberry, macerated cherries, twine-tied cinnamon sticks, clove-spiced orange, coffee-rubbed brisket burnt ends, cozy potpourri in a fall storm, hint of white pepper, warm barrel sugar
Palate
Ripe cherries, dark shortbread with strawberry jam, sticky chocolate brownie crust, allspice, cinnamon, juniper, mahogany keepsake chest
Finish
Fresh gingerbread and orange spiced tea
Reviews
All in all this is a fantastic whiskey blend that delivers flavor in spades despite sacrificing a bit of balance for a unique tasting experience. The asking price is a bit of a hard sell, but you can expect to be rewarded with a rich and atypical tipple that’s sure to impress.
