High West’s The Prisoner’s Share is a Great Red Wine Finished Whiskey
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).
The main difference between the 2025 and 2026 releases is the addition of High West’s own in-house distilled bourbon into the mix. The whiskey components this year were aged between four and 12 years, and the final blend was finished in barrels previously used to age The Prisoner Red Blend California wine from six months to more than two years, and bottled non-chill filtered at 101 proof.
“This year’s release of The Prisoner’s Share marks a meaningful step forward for us,” said Tara Lindley, director of sensory and new product development for the distillery. “It marks the first time we’ve brought together both our own bourbon and rye in the same expression. Adding our own pot-distilled bourbon alongside the rye creates a richer, more ester-driven profile that brings greater depth, texture, and balance to the wine barrel finish. This year’s blend also incorporates a small portion of a 60 percent corn, 40 percent rye bourbon from some of our earliest distillations, connecting the whiskey to an important chapter in our history.”
We got to try a sample of this whiskey, and once again this is one of the better red wine-finished expressions in the market. The blend of bourbon and rye is well balanced (think High West’s Bourye), and the wine finish provides some oaky, fruity, and tannic notes that support instead of dominating, along with flavors like blueberry, orange, allspice, cinnamon, fig, and dark chocolate-covered espresso beans. High West The Prisoner’s Share 2026 is available at select retailers now (SRP $175).
