There are a lot of cask-finished whiskeys to choose from these days, expressions that spend time in barrels previously used to age rum, sherry, tequila, and beer after initial maturation. One that has become pretty popular, but can sometimes go overboard, is a red wine finish. But High West has proven once again that it knows how to handle this type of finish with the 2026 release of the Prisoner’s Share.
High West is a Utah distillery that was founded in 2006, and for many years it sourced and blended rye and bourbon from other distilleries like MGP in Indiana, although increasingly the distillery’s own in-house produced juice is finding its way into bottles as well. Sometimes it also gives its whiskeys secondary maturations, like the annual Midwinter Night’s Dram which is finished in port barrels. The Prisoner’s Share was first released in 2022, and shows how an artful red wine finish can be achieved without overpowering the whiskey with fruit and tannic notes.
The makeup of the Prisoner’s Share changes from year to year, and the 2026 release is a combination of bourbon and rye sourced from MGP and Bardstown Bourbon Company, and some whiskey distilled onsite in Utah. The exact makeup is as follows: MGP straight bourbon (75 percent corn, 21 percent rye, four percent barley malt); Bardstown Bourbon Company straight bourbon (60 percent corn, 40 percent rye); Kentucky straight bourbon from an unnamed distillery (78 percent corn, 10 percent rye, 12 percent malted barley); High West straight bourbon (80 percent corn, 20 percent malted barley); MGP straight rye (95 percent rye, 5 percent barley malt); and High West straight rye (80 percent rye, 20 percent malted rye).
