High n’ Wicked is a bottler of Whiskeys founded by two Brown-Forman senior executives, W.L. Lyons Brown III and Kevin E. Sachs in 2019. They were both in the international division of sales in the 1990’s where they worked at building the Jack Daniel’s and Southern Comfort brands in Europe and Asia. They did not rush any whiskey into the market and the youngest whiskey in these bottles is five years old and there are older barrels in their whiskey. Their web site states that the rye whiskey is sourced from New Riff Distillery with a 91% rye and 9% malted barley mash bill. They don’t say where the Bourbon was made but it has a mash bill of 51% corn, 39% rye and 10% malted barley. They sent me these bottle the other day and Matt and I sat down to taste them. Here are our tasting notes.
High n’ Wicked Bourbon
Proof: 104
Age: Five years Old
Nose:
- Mike: Vanilla, corn, blackberries, baking spices and oak wood.
- Matt: Marshmallows, cedar wood, brown sugar, pecan pie and oak wood.
Taste:
- Mike: Vanilla, corn, wild berries, cinnamon, nutmeg and oak wood. Tasted with a dried cranberry and the cinnamon is enhanced and raspberry and blackberry flavors become very distinct. Tasted with a pecan and the vanilla and oak are enhanced.
- Matt: Caramel, brown sugar, pecan pie and oak wood. The dried cranberry enhanced the brown sugar. The pecan brought out peaches to join the party.
Finish:
- Mike: Medium long with oak and baking spices. The dried cranberry made the finish longer with oak, cinnamon and lingering berry sweetness. The pecan made the finish very long with oak and vanilla.
- Matt: Medium long with oak and brown sugar. The dried cranberry made the finish longer and sweeter. The pecan made the finish very long with lots of oak and lingering brown sugar.
High n’ Wicked Rye
Proof: 98.2
Age: Five Years Old
Nose:
- Mike: Rye grass, vanilla, caramel, pears and oak wood.
- Matt: Rye grass, mint, orange zest and oak wood.
Taste:
- Mike: Rye grass, vanilla, pears and ripe apples, white pepper and oak wood. The dried cranberry enhanced the white pepper and brought out some ginger spice. The pecan made the flavor caramel, ginger, a hint of chocolate and oak wood.
- Matt: Rye grass, mint, orange zest and oak wood. The dried cranberry added some vanilla to the flavor. The pecan enhanced the orange zest and oak wood.
Finish:
- Mike: Medium long with oak and white pepper. The dried cranberry added some ginger spice to the mix. The pecan made the finish long and dry with lots of oak wood and lingering chocolate notes.
- Matt: Medium long with oak wood and mint. The dried cranberry made the finish sweeter with lingering vanilla. The pecan made the finish long and dry with oak wood and rye grass.
I would pair these fine whiskeys with an Arturo Fuente Gran Reserva cigar. I think the vanilla and cedar spice of the smoke would pair well with the sweetness and spices of these whiskeys.
Photos Courtesy of Rosemary Miller