Heavy campfire smoke | Toasted marshmallows | Hickory wood | Peat | Hints of corn

Vanilla | Light oak | Sweet corn | White peppercorn | Leather | Faint rye spice | Touch of liquid smoke | Pleasant

Mellow dry oak | Light rye spice | Sweet vanilla | Light cinnamon spice | Hints of leather | Touch of peat | Faint smoldering campfire

High West Distillery was founded in 2006 by David Perkins and his wife Jane. Its main location is in Park City, Utah, and it’s the first licensed distillery in the state since Prohibition. After a brief hiatus, High West has brought back its Campfire release to the market. As we stated in our earlier review of Campfire in 2021, “the walled gardens of bourbon and scotch aren’t often breached with each other, and the result is drinkers' hesitation to explore it when it does happen. From a bourbon drinker’s perspective - who often shy away from smoky and peaty flavor profiles - it's almost impossible to taste anything but those in a scotch. High West in turn goes out of its way to make these flavors very approachable with Campfire.”

The sip opens with a billowing burst of dominant scotch influenced notes. A heavy campfire aroma lifts out of the glass and is propped up by scents of peat, toasted marshmallows, and hickory wood. While the scotch influence is still present in the midpoint of the sip, notes of vanilla, light oak, sweet corn, and light spices help tamper it and add gentleness to the sip. The finish ends on more traditional American whiskey notes of oak, sweet vanilla, rye, and cinnamon spice. There’s a touch of peat, but in general, the scotch influence tends to dissipate as it transitions to the end of the sip. Overall this is an interesting cross between American whiskey and scotch whiskey, and a nice crossover for someone coming from the world of scotch but looking to break into American whiskeys.

The bottle in review comes from Batch No 22G01.