Welcome to Taste Test, where every week our critic Jonah Flicker explores the most buzzworthy and interesting whiskeys in the world. Check back each Sunday for his latest whiskey review.

Only a few weeks into winter, we’re all hitting that post-holiday lull when the anticipation and excitement many of us have been feeling for the past month has collapsed back into reality. In many parts of the country, these past few weeks have been some of the coldest in recent memory, and if you’re a whiskey drinker that means you’re reaching for a winter warmer. Fortunately, High West has just the one for you, in the form of the latest limited-edition release of A Midwinter Night’s Dram rye whiskey.

High West is a Utah distillery that has been around for 20 years now and operates in two locations—a saloon in downtown Park City, and a distillery that’s a short drive away in Wanship. That’s where the whiskey is produced, but High West only uses a portion of its in-house distillate for most of its expressions (although the percentage has increased over the years). The rest of it is sourced from MGP in Indiana and distilleries in Kentucky like Barton, both producers of high-quality whiskey that is then blended and finished back in Utah. High West bottles some bourbon, but the focus has mostly been on rye whiskey over the years, and what you’ll usually find in the bottle is a base of the classic MPG 95/5 rye that has been combined with another style or given a secondary maturation, like the flagship Rendezvous Rye and Double Rye.

There are some limited-edition releases as well in the lineup, and one of the most popular has proven to be A Midwinter Night’s Dram, which is now in its 13th edition, or “act” as the distillery puts it. Obviously, that’s a reference to Shakespeare, a nod to the play A Midsummer Night’s Dream. But that’s where the Elizabethan era homage ends, because this whiskey is nothing like anyone might have been drinking at that time. This year’s release is a blend of the standard 95 percent rye grain/5 percent malted barley whiskey distilled at MGP, and High West-distilled rye made from a mashbill of 80 percent rye and 20 percent malted rye. The latter is the signature recipe for the distillery, a unique formula produced on a pot still at the Wanship facility that is used as a flavoring element for the base whiskey (the exact proportions are not revealed). Finally, like all past Midwinter releases, the blend is finished in ruby and tawny port barrels, and this edition is bottled without chill filtration at 98.6 proof.

Of course, it’s impossible to truly compare whiskeys without sitting down and tasting them side by side, but based on memory alone I would have to say that this is one of my favorite Midwinter releases to date. It’s really well balanced, with the rye spice of the whiskey and tannic fruit of the port finish complementing each other, each playing a specific part. There are notes of black pepper, cinnamon, and nutmeg on the palate, wrapped around a base of vanilla, pear, red berries, cherry syrup, and grape jelly. This whiskey is not sweet, but it is juicy, and the higher proof does give it a bit of heat and bite on the finish (that’s a good thing).

It’s right there in the name: This is meant to be a midwinter sipper, and High West has succeeded in creating that. There’s a richness and spice to this whiskey that is very appealing during these colder months, although of course go ahead and sip A Midwinter Night’s Dram on a blisteringly hot summer day if you are in the mood. This series is sought after by collectors, but it has not yet been bumped into unicorn territory in terms of pricing. In other words, you might be able to find it somewhere close to its $150 asking price—and if you do, I recommend grabbing a bottle.

Score: 92