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High West Bourye 2025 Review + Maker’s Mark Cellar Aged & Penelope Big LE Drops!
May 3, 2026
This week on Bourbon Bytes, I review the brand-new 2025 High West Bourye, the annual limited release blending straight bourbon and rye whiskey. How does this year’s edition stack up against past favorites, and is it worth the hunt? Plus, big whiskey headlines: Maker’s Mark brings back its Cellar Aged Bourbon, High West launches its first Bottled-in-Bond release aged at 4,000 ft, and Penelope Bourbon reveals a premium 2025 Estate Collection. 0:00 Intro & Welcome to the Bourbon Bytes Podcast 2:15 Whiskey News: Maker’s Mark Cellar Aged Returns 05:21 Whiskey News: High West’s First Bottled-in-Bond at 4,000 ft 07:20 Whiskey News: Penelope Estate Collection 2025 12:08 High West Bourye 2025 Review 19:54 Closing Cheers & Byte Club Shoutouts
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0:00
Today on the Bourbon Bites Podcast, we're keeping the news train rolling with tons of new whiskey releases for 2025, including the new Maker's Mark Cellar Age release, High West's first Bottle & Bond Bourbon, and Penelope's new estate collection
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Plus, I'm reviewing the 2025 release of High West Distillery's Boo Rye Whiskey
0:30
Hello, everyone, and welcome to the Bourbon Vites podcast. I'm your host, Clifton, and this is the week of Thursday, August 28th, 2025
0:39
And do I have a show for you today. Right off the heels of last week's episode with a bunch of limited edition bourbon announcements
0:47
we have even more to talk about this week. And this is to be expected as we get closer to fall
0:52
That seems to be the season where all these new releases come out. There's so much to keep up with, and I just want to make sure to give you guys the highlights
0:59
as soon as I find out about them. Whether or not we get to try them on the podcast or the YouTube
1:04
channel, that just depends on one, if I can find them on the shelves, two, if brands want to send
1:09
me a sample for a review, contact at bourbonbites.com, or if friends are generous enough to let me try a
1:14
sample from their bottles. But today we do have a fun limited edition review of High West Burei
1:21
I'm looking forward to getting into that with you guys for this week's Bite Size Review, but first
1:25
we got to get through some new stories that I think you should know about. I know I'm not the
1:30
only one excited about this LE season as we call it in bourbon and whiskey but especially for me
1:36
this year one of the commitments I made for the channel and the podcast this year is I was going
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to make sure to try some limited editions that I normally would you know maybe miss just because
1:47
they're high price or harder to get but this year is all about finding them and giving you guys my
1:51
honest thoughts on them. I've done quite a few already but hopefully some of the ones I talk
1:56
about in this week's podcast we get to try in the near future so stay tuned. Make sure to subscribe
2:01
on YouTube and follow me on your favorite podcast platform to be notified whenever I get a chance to
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try and review these upcoming releases. Putting it out into the universe now just just come on
2:13
bring on the releases. The first new release I want to talk about today is Maker's Mark's Cellar
2:19
aged bourbon is back in 2025. So they started this back in 2023 originally and they basically
2:26
are blending together some of their bourbon that has been aged at least half of their maturation
2:30
cycles in Maker's Mark's limestone cellar as opposed to the usual rickhouses where they spend
2:36
most of their aging. And this is a pretty rare process in whiskey. We see cellar aging a lot
2:41
with wine but they are experimenting with it and it seems to be a really successful collection
2:46
I did have a chance to try one of the previous releases and thought it was a unique take on
2:50
Maker's Mark. But this year they are blending in 11, a 13 and a 14 year old whiskey to make the
2:58
Maker's Mark Cellar Age 2025 release. That's some really highly aged Maker's Mark. As you remember
3:04
Maker's Mark doesn't typically do age statements on their standard releases. It's relatively new
3:09
for them to be doing it. So for them to be blending some of this oldest whiskey that
3:13
Maker's Mark has ever produced into a release is really really cool. Now this is going to be
3:18
bottled at 56.45% or 112.9 proof. I'm assuming that's cast strength. I don't see it labeled as
3:26
cast strength here but I think previous releases have been considered cast strength as well
3:30
And it's going to be available first at the Maker's Mark gift shop. They're having a few
3:34
bottles available before anyone else in the country can get it. So if you are in Kentucky
3:39
and you are looking to get a bottle of that, they're going to release it on September 5th
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before a wider nationwide release in mid-September. They haven't announced the number of bottles
3:50
but we do know a little bit more about the blend. So 74% of it is an 11-year-old bourbon
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10% is the 13-year-old, and 16% is the 14-year-old bourbon. They say that the whiskey is rich and
4:03
balanced and drinks more easily than its proof might suggest and settles into a refined finish
4:08
So the reason that this is some of the oldest maker's mark we've ever seen is because the seller age process does kind of limit some of the oak impact on the bourbon
4:18
You know, if we had like a 14 year old maker's mark that was sitting in the rickhouses, they're saying that, you know, that could lead to astringency or bitterness
4:25
You know, we've seen that before with some older bourbons. Older doesn't always mean better. And I imagine they've probably done some experimenting with older maker's mark and they didn't really find it up to par to release it at that age
4:36
but moving it into these sellers they could kind of round it out give it a little more age without
4:40
that massive you know heat influence from the rickhouses so that's really exciting i would love
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a chance to try this release if you guys get a hand on it let me know especially if you can
4:50
compare it to the previous releases like i said i had a sample of the 2023 one i believe
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didn't get a chance to do it side by side with any other makers mark releases but i do remember
4:59
really really enjoying that so i will definitely be keeping an eye out for this bottle pricing on
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is going to be which is steep but I think for a very well Maker Mark that a pretty fair price I think if you can get it close to retail it definitely worth trying especially if you a Maker Mark fan and you like their high high releases All right well I keep the ball
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rolling with new releases. High West Distillery out of Park City, Utah, just announced their first
5:29
bottled-in-bond bourbon that's been distilled exclusively at their distillery in Utah. So
5:36
Ohio West is mostly known for their rye whiskey. They previously released a bottled and bond rye
5:41
but this is their first bottled and bond bourbon that they've had that's, you know, made at their distillery. They used to source a lot from MGP when they were first getting started
5:49
They're, like I said, mostly a rye distillery. When I went to do the tour, that's basically all
5:54
we talked about was the rye. The bourbon was something that they were, you know, you know, I felt more of like an experimental thing for them, but rye is where they excelled at. So I'm
6:02
really curious to see how this bourbon is. My experience with their bourbon is relatively
6:06
limited. Mostly their rye is what I gravitate towards. But like I said, today's review
6:10
we're going to review their Boo Rye, which is a blend of straight whiskeys. Now it's not all
6:15
distilled at their distillery. We'll get into the mash bill and all that. But this is a pretty
6:20
exciting release. It's going to sell for $80. It's available for pre-sale now on their website
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It's supposed to ship mid to late August. So either like very, very soon, maybe by the time
6:31
this podcast comes out, they'll be available. The mash bill is 36% rye and 64% non-GMO yellow corn
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So there's no malted barley in this bourbon, which is interesting. They just stuck with a corn and rye
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mash bill. This has been aged for four years and five months, and it's bottled at 100 proof, as are
6:50
all bottled and bond bourbons and ryes. So not only is it going to be available on their website at
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the distillery, but it's also going to go nationwide for a suggested retail price of $79.99
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It's not the one I'd be interested in trying. You know, their bourbon's not really what they're known for, but it doesn't mean they can't make a good spirit. But congrats to them for having a
7:10
bottled and bond bourbon that they've distilled themselves. That's not something I expected to see out of High West, at least this soon, with their focus being so much on rye whiskey, but
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good for them. All right, last piece of new whiskey news comes to us from Penelope Bourbon
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they just announced their 2025 Estate Collection, which is a highly anticipated collection showcasing higher age statements
7:32
new innovation, and increased allocation across each release. So this year they're having five different expressions with minimum age statements of 10 years old
7:41
It includes a reimagined Founders Reserve Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey, the introduction of new Omega Straight Bourbon Whiskey finished in Omega French Oak Barrels
7:51
and the award-winning Single Barrel and Private Select Bourbons. So they released the Penelope Estate Collection last year and ended up winning a ton of awards
8:00
So I'm excited to see what they have to bring to the table this year. I think one of the highlights is the Founders Reserve 13-year-old Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey that they have
8:10
Suggested retail of $199.99. It is a mash bill of 78% corn, 10% rye, and 12% malted barley
8:19
Aged for 13 years and bottled a cast strength at 121.4 proof
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Now interestingly enough, this is a Kentucky bourbon, so I would imagine this is probably sourced from one of the legacy distilleries, because most of what Penelope does is out of Indiana
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So it's exciting to see some Kentucky bourbon in the mix this year
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Now like I said, they're also introducing a new addition to the lineup, which is an Omega 11-year straight bourbon whiskey
8:44
And this kind of feels like an evolution of their Architects series. they're working with the same cooperage that's known for their oak scan technology which
8:52
scientifically selects staves with the exact chemical composition needed to achieve the
8:57
desired flavor profile if you've been following these releases they have like the oak scan on the
9:00
back of the bottle but this one is using their omega barrels which are considered the pinnacle
9:05
of french oak innovation they say this is crafted with rare tight grain oak and meticulously designed
9:11
toast profile of course starting with the 11 year old distillate and then putting it into these
9:16
finishing casks. You're adding even more depth and nuances to that bourbon. The mash bill in this one
9:22
is going to be 78% corn, 10% rye, and 12% malted barley. And it's going to be bottled at 109.8 proof
9:29
These are going to come in at $129.99. There's going to be a limited allocation of 1,800 cases
9:36
of 750 milliliter bottles and available in select markets starting in September. Now this next one's
9:42
interesting. They're having two different releases of their single barrel 10-year bourbon, both of
9:47
which are going to be going for $89.99 retail. The first of which is a mash bill of 75% corn
9:54
21% rye, and 4% malted barley bottled at 99 proof. The second of which is going to be a mash bill of
10:00
60% corn, 36% rye, and 4% malted barley bottled at 103 proof. So there's a bit of a lower rye
10:08
bourbon and a higher rye bourbon, both at different proof points but same price point. They say that
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these hand-selected barrels showcase the nuanced complexity of the finest stock of well-aged bourbon
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and deemed too exceptional to blend So exciting to see two different releases of that I love both of those Mash Bills from Indiana Curious to see that they are bottled at lower proof than cast
10:32
strength. I'm wondering what that decision was for. Was it to get more of the bottles
10:36
or was it just because they felt like they excelled at those proof points? Would be curious to
10:39
try those though. Sound very, very interesting. And lastly is the Private Select 10-Year Bourbon
10:45
at $79.99 retail. This is also aged 10 years. It has a mash bill of 74% corn, 20% rye, 1% wheat
10:54
and 5% malted barley. Now, even though this is called Private Slut, it is a blended bourbon. So
10:59
that's what sets it apart from those single barrels we saw earlier. This one is bottled at
11:04
106.8 proof. Now, according to Michael Palladini, who is the founder of Penelope Bourbon and vice
11:10
president of Strategy of MGP Ingredients, he says that this year's collection is their most exciting
11:15
and accessible yet. It's going to be available this September in select markets with first access
11:20
to the entire collection exclusively at Lux Road Distillers beginning on Friday, September 5th at
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9 a.m. EST. They also have a product located on their website if you want to look for it outside
11:30
of the area. Now I leave it to you fine folks to decide if you're in the area to go to pick up
11:35
either these releases or the Maker's Mark Seller Age. Both are coming out on the same day so you
11:40
can make me make a whole day of it maybe I would probably start out at uh Maker's Mark I don't know
11:45
what time they're opening but um yeah I imagine those seller age releases are going to go fast
11:49
and then make your way over to Lux Row to get this one but it should be a fun day to do some
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bourbon hunting I wish I could make it out there all right well that does it for our news this week
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no video game news um I know there's a Nintendo Direct supposedly rumored to be coming out in
12:03
September so we'll have lots of new updates then but I think it's time for us to move into our
12:08
bite-sized review. All right, well earlier in the podcast we talked about HiWest's new bottled and
12:21
bond bourbon, so I thought the closest thing I had to it was this brand new 2025 release of their
12:27
Boo Rai. Now when I saw this at my local grocery store, I was a bit confused because I thought that
12:33
they had changed Boo Rye to being a distillery only release. Turns out that was a temporary
12:38
decision because the 2025 release is back available nationally. So definitely pick this up when I saw
12:45
it. If you're not familiar with Boo Rye, it is a blend of straight whiskeys. Boo Rye comes from
12:51
the name bourbon and rye and this one is a blend of several. It's marrying two straight rye whiskey
12:57
mash bills with three straight bourbon whiskey mash bills. So this is going to be a mouthful
13:02
but let me let me go for it so of the five the first is a 95.5 rye from mgp the second is an 80
13:09
rye 20 malted rye from high west distillery next up is another mgp mash bill of 75 corn 21 rye and
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4 barley followed by another mgp mash bill of 60 corn 36 rye and 4 malted barley and lastly a 78
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percent corn, 10 percent rye, 12 percent malted barley from an undisclosed Kentucky distillery
13:32
Now doing a quick google search shows that to be a heaven hill Nashville, particularly the one used
13:37
for Elijah Craig. So not to confirm or deny, but that does seem to be where that whiskey is sourced
13:43
from. Now what's interesting is that all of these components have been aged for a minimum of 10
13:47
years old in new charred white American oak barrels before being blended and bottled without
13:53
chill filtration and bottled at 92 proof so that means the high west distillate in here the 80% rye
13:59
20% molted rye is at least 10 years old that's got to be some of their oldest stuff I've ever
14:03
seen them you know put out that's pretty cool and of course we love some high age MGP and 10 years
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from heaven hill you know nothing to snuff at as well retail on this bottle is $124.99 I think I
14:17
about that maybe a little bit more it was a Gelson so a little bit higher end of a grocery store but
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I knew I wouldn't pass up the opportunity to give it a try for close to retail especially because I
14:28
was very confused which led me to finding out that they are no longer distillery only so I picked up
14:33
a bottle so let's go ahead and open up and see how it tastes so there is a batch number on my bottle
14:38
it does say batch 25A28 not sure how many batches of this but just want to give that in case you had
14:43
the same bottle but this is indeed a 2025 version of bu-rai all right let's go in and give this bu-rai
14:49
a nose oh that's beautiful wow not really what i expected it kind of has like a menthol kind of
14:57
note kind of similar to like a vix vapor rub i don't mean that in a bad way but um wasn't expecting
15:02
that to be the first thing i got on the nose here but that is followed by a sweet fruitiness almost
15:07
like cherry. Very, very bright on the nose. Wow. I mean, I don't know what I expected a boo-ray to
15:13
smell like, but that's definitely not it. Once I've kind of gotten more into it, the menthol kind of
15:19
goes away a little bit. It still does read really herbaceous and bright. I'm getting almost an apple
15:25
note to it now, but like a freshly sliced green apple. Not a, you know, apple pie or anything, but
15:32
just really crisp apples That cherry still there but it kind of reading more of like a candied cherry almost Almost like the filling of like a chocolate covered cherry I don know if I getting as much of the chocolate of it though
15:43
Just the cherry and the sugar filling. Really beautiful though. I could see this being made into a candle
15:49
I think it would be a great holiday candle. The menthol is still there. And you know, sometimes I feel like that could come across as a bit medicinal
15:55
Especially with blended with the cherry. But to me, it's coming across more of a very light, delicate, bright, fruity dessert
16:04
All right. I've been intrigued by this nose for far long enough. I'm going to go in for a taste
16:09
Cheers. Oh, wow. Definitely a different experience than the nose. It's still fruity, but it kind of goes a little more citrus on the palate
16:20
And the oak is showing up as well, but it's not the typical oak you would expect for something so old
16:24
it's definitely more of like a like a cedar chest kind of note of oak it's got that like antique kind
16:30
of dusty quality to it let me go in for a second taste of that because that was interesting wow yeah
16:34
I mean completely unexpected you know there's a very specific thing that comes to mind when I taste
16:38
this and it's sometimes when I go to a really nice cocktail bar or whiskey bar and I get an
16:43
old-fashioned they have the orange slice but they put in the cloves into the orange slice and they
16:48
do a bit of a char on it and then they put that into the old-fashioned to me it's kind of like a
16:52
culmination of those flavors the bitter orange peel note but combined with that clove um and that
16:57
like a little bit of char it's really really nice i think this in a cocktail would be fantastic
17:01
i mean it's nothing like i expected especially seeing that everything's 10 years old it's not
17:05
that it doesn't have that depth of character it does it just is expressing itself very differently
17:10
than i expected normally i expect it to be super oak forward a bit tannic and you know or even some
17:15
really like saturated oaky notes kind of like a jim bean product but this is bright it's fruity
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it's um refined and it does taste like a limited edition release i always say certain whiskeys
17:28
have a le note and this is exactly what i'm talking about this is unique this is unlike
17:32
anything i've had before and i dig it i will say the only i guess downfall is with the finish it
17:38
since it's so bright and fruit forward the finish doesn't really linger in a way that i
17:42
kind of expected to be with it being so old it's kind of a short to medium finish but it does leave
17:48
you with a nice spice note. I think it's like that clove and orange combo that I was getting earlier
17:53
And it does leave you with a bit of a coated mouth. Like I do feel the oil is still kind of
17:57
lingering, even though the finish is gone. It's still kind of leaving some of those lingering
18:00
elements just covering my palate. How interesting. This is a unique one, especially when I go into
18:06
like my overall thoughts and score and recommendation. I will say price wise, you know, $124.99 retail
18:13
is a bit up there, but this is a unique experience. It's something I've never really
18:17
had before. It's very different from what their other LEs are like a Midwinter's Night Dram which
18:23
is one of my favorite bottles. Still brings in a lot of similar elements but it's expressing itself
18:27
way differently here. I think it's worth a buy for the price if you're a fan of High West flavor
18:33
profiles. I don't necessarily see myself picking up a second bottle of it. Maybe next year's release
18:38
though for sure. I'd be curious to see how this evolves over time. So this is one I would say to
18:42
grab one see how you like it and if you absolutely love it go out buy more but if you're like me and
18:47
you feel like it's delicious it's great but not something for you every day maybe wait till each
18:52
year's release scoring this one I mean this is really nice and unique I think I'll have to give
18:56
this one a 8 out of 10 for my score I've been trying to do scores more often now especially
19:02
when I'm doing the written reviews of these on reddit which I've started posting more recently now sometimes it's an easy way to kind of quickly gauge if something is worth buying for me this is
19:10
an 8 out of 10 because it's so unique. It's something I've never had before. It's not that
19:14
crazy of a price. It's not that hard to find. At least it wasn't in my area. Even though that can
19:19
be seen as a really high rating, I think it's on par with what I expect some limited edition
19:24
bourbons to be. I want them to be unique. I want them to be something I've never experienced before
19:29
or at least have some qualities that I associate with being either well-aged, well-blended
19:34
or just a damn good whiskey. And this checks a lot of those boxes
19:40
So yeah, that's my thoughts on High West's Boo Rye for 2025. I like it
19:44
I'm surprised by it. I am bewildered, should I say. But definitely going to keep an eye out for these in the future
19:51
I'm here to see how it compares to other batches. All right. Well, thank you guys so much again for listening
19:57
As always, feel free to leave me your comments and thoughts of the podcast. You can email me, contact at bourbonbites.com
20:02
send me a message on social media at bourbon bites or give me a call at 916-64-BYTEZ
20:09
That's 916-642-9837. Leave me a voicemail with your questions or suggestions or comments
20:17
and I will feature them on next week's show if you want me to. Or if you want to keep it private, just let me know and I'll keep it between us
20:25
I'll talk to you guys next week. This has been the Bourbon Bites podcast, a whiskey podcast with a gaming twist
20:29
Cheers and I'll talk to you guys next episode
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