20 July 2020

Westland Peated


The first American whiskey I’ve reviewed properly, but certainly not the first I’ve had. My preference is much more for whiskey made from barley than corn and I like the strong, smoky flavors more than sweet ones, so it makes sense I haven’t paid much attention to what’s made on our side of the Atlantic. It seems there’s a bit of an uptick in American distilleries making single malt whisky, so I’ll be keeping my eye on that.

Westland Peated, American (Seattle) Single Malt, 46% ABV

Minutia: Made from a blend of six types of barley, one of them peated. Matured at least 3 years in a combination of new American oak casks and ex-Bourbon casks. Enjoyed neat in a glencairn.

Color: Tawny, 1.4.

Nose: Sweet malt, a sweet doughy quality, occasional light smoke.

Taste: Sweet and light, some smoke that builds up more over the time in your mouth, a bit of heat coming with the smoke.

Finish: Chocolate at the outset, pepper, some kind of cookie. Medium.

My overall sense of this is that there’s nothing spectacular, but nothing offensive, and it is overall quite enjoyable. I found the similarity to bourbon surprising due to the mashbill not containing corn, I suppose that is due to the proportion of the same type of casks bourbon would be matured in as well is the influence from the casks that were previously used for bourbon. It was a neat combination of the maltiness and more-than-usual bourbon influence. It’s a bit on the expensive end, but it’s nice.

Score: 82


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