Westland Distillery - American Single Malts

[HighInTheMtns]

I picked up the last two bottles in this picture to complete my vertical of Westland limited release bottlings today.

I've tried them all at the distillery in SoDo Seattle and Cask 29 is probably my favorite as it's got a touch of peat accompanied by the cask-strength oomph (story is that they randomly added different new makes to this barrel and promptly "forgot" about it)

Deacon Seat: http://www.westlanddistillery.com/whiskey/deacon-seat

First Peated: http://www.westlanddistillery.com/whiskey/first-peated

Cask 29: http://www.westlanddistillery.com/whiskey/cask29

Cask 52: http://www.westlanddistillery.com/whiskey/cask52

I love that the big bottles use the Japanese Style screw tops.

What's the price on the Casks?

[ChainWhip]

What's the price on the Casks?

$69.99 (only available @ the Distillery / limit 1)

[tanstaafl2]

Thanks to the generous assistance of a fellow SBer I will be able to add this relatively uncommon bottle, especially in these parts, to the Wednesday tasting lineup tomorrow!

[ChainWhip]

Very cool - your mules kick @$$

[AaronWF]

Just tasting the unpeated single malt and I'm very impressed. The nose is sweet and fruity with a dense, cake-y weight to it. The palate is complex with a jammy sweetness that turns nutty and a roasted nuttiness comes on on the finish. The finish also betrays the young age with some sharper notes, but otherwise this is rich with flavor and character. Singular and quite tasty.

[BootsOnTheGround]

Just tasting the unpeated single malt and I'm very impressed. The nose is sweet and fruity with a dense, cake-y weight to it. The palate is complex with a jammy sweetness that turns nutty and a roasted nuttiness comes on on the finish. The finish also betrays the young age with some sharper notes, but otherwise this is rich with flavor and character. Singular and quite tasty.

[ChainWhip]

Just tasting the unpeated single malt and I'm very impressed. The nose is sweet and fruity with a dense, cake-y weight to it. The palate is complex with a jammy sweetness that turns nutty and a roasted nuttiness comes on on the finish. The finish also betrays the young age with some sharper notes, but otherwise this is rich with flavor and character. Singular and quite tasty.

[zillah]

I just tasted the regular American Single Malt at a festival and I was floored. Stuff was great! Definitely going to buy a bottle.

[SmoothAmbler]

I've been hearing wonderful things about these guys from experienced malt whisky drinkers.

[WhiskyRI]

I'm a huge fan of these guys. I did a tasting back in September with Single Cask Nation and one of the whiskies was their Peated Sherry Cask 2 year old malt. It was so good I bought a bottle as soon as it went on sale. At a recent charity tasting I did it was one of the favorite malts - competing with Springbank 15, HP 15, 23 Year Old Caol Ila, and Amrut Intermediate Sherry. It may be young but it's darn good whisky. I'll be in Seattle in January and plan on visiting the Distillery.

[tanstaafl2]

I agree with the general assessment that Westland is one "craft" distillery to keep an eye on. Thanks to the kind assistance of some fellow SBers from the Pacific NW I got a chance to get a bottle of their recent Cask 29 single barrel release. It was a delightful whiskey! Emerson Lamb was at the Westland table at the Atlanta WoW and he agreed that #29 was a good one indeed! But I was also impressed with the regular and peated Westland and look forward to their arrival in Georgia. They may well have been "Best in Show" in my book. They were certainly the best "craft" distillery there.

[ChainWhip]

I may be a provincial homer, but I love their whiskies

[zillah]

Wow ChainWhip! Impressive! Out of the ones you opened, how do you like them?

[tanstaafl2]

I may be a provincial homer, but I love their whiskies

If you are going to be a provincial homer then you certainly picked a good one!

[tanstaafl2]

Wow ChainWhip! Impressive! Out of the ones you opened, how do you like them?

Indeed! I am particularly curious about the Peat Week sherry influenced 279 and very lightly colored 283. Would like to see how well they do with sherry finishing.

[ChainWhip]

I'm partial to peat and peat+sherry is a combination I really dig... but it's a toss-up honestly between #279 (peat+PX) & #283 for me right after opening - they're both really good. I was also fortunate enough to get one of the SCN Westlands (also peat+Oloroso):

The #279 is opening up very very nicely to the point where it has surpassed the #283 (they were about even right at opening for me). The SCN Westland is BBQ & browned butter upon opening - I expect it will get better as it opens up...

#29 is delicious as well but while it has less peat than #279/#283, it's still got enough peat to make it interesting.

I've tried the others at the distillery but haven't opened my own bottles yet.

Edited November 14, 2014 by ChainWhip

[mopgcw]

was able to finally score a bottle of the American Single Malt last week at Cask here. Very nice and smooth, it has a touch of sweetness but was not overwhelming. Although i prefer the peatier side, this is simply a very good whiskey imho.

[tanstaafl2]

was able to finally score a bottle of the American Single Malt last week at Cask here. Very nice and smooth, it has a touch of sweetness but was not overwhelming. Although i prefer the peatier side, this is simply a very good whiskey imho.

Have the regular malt locally and supposed to get the regular peated, which I have had before, and sherry offering, which I don't think I have had, soon. Looking forward to them both despite the fact that they are rather spendy. And doubt that either will be able to match the Cask 29 single barrel I got a while back thanks to the efforts of a couple of SBers. Look forward to more mature future efforts and availability from them if they can keep the price out of the stratosphere.

[Balcones Winston]

I love this whisky. They are great guys over there too

[mopgcw]

Have the regular malt locally and supposed to get the regular peated, which I have had before, and sherry offering, which I don't think I have had, soon. Looking forward to them both despite the fact that they are rather spendy. And doubt that either will be able to match the Cask 29 single barrel I got a while back thanks to the efforts of a couple of SBers. Look forward to more mature future efforts and availability from them if they can keep the price out of the stratosphere.

agreed, i found a lonely bottle of regular malt at bevmo here so was able to put that one away in the back, and keeping my eye on their future efforts as well. a great first impression for sure.

[BigRich]

Have the regular malt locally and supposed to get the regular peated, which I have had before, and sherry offering, which I don't think I have had, soon. Looking forward to them both despite the fact that they are rather spendy. And doubt that either will be able to match the Cask 29 single barrel I got a while back thanks to the efforts of a couple of SBers. Look forward to more mature future efforts and availability from them if they can keep the price out of the stratosphere.

[tanstaafl2]

And you've seen that where?

The regular Westie should be in most good sized stores. DeKalb Bottle House had it when I was last there.

[tanstaafl2]

The Peated and Sherry Wood Westies have landed in the Atlanta metro area! looking forward to both.

[ChainWhip]

#185 was released recently - there are also a few fill-your-own casks available at the distillery.

[Balcones Winston]

Their three main offerings are the very first products that have me interested in plain American whiskey (considered neither a bourbon nor a rye). I'd love to get my hands on all of them!:kiss:

While there exists corn whiskey and wheat whiskey, these almost deserve to be called barley whiskey (since they're made in the USA). American Scotch, anyone? Can the term "whisk(e)y" finally be used to talk about one particular commodity?

"Malt whisky" is defined as a class type by the TTB, made to the same specifications as bourbon or rye, but containing 51% or more malted barley in the mash. However this class type excludes a lot of American single malts, such as Westland or Balcones, since new barrels are not always employed.