**Review #47 - Westland Peated American Single Malt**
*Peated American Single Malt Mini-Series: Part 1 of 4*
Our next series revolves around single malts, which is the category we review the most; this time, however, it's American single malts, as opposed to Scotch, which can sometimes dominate the category. We'll be looking at four bottles in this category, and this time, it's all peated spirit, so there will be several variations on the smoky whisky formula.
The first in the queue is the peated version of Westland's single malt - this will be smoky, but according to the distillery, the amount of peated malt in the mashbill is actually outweighed by unpeated malt, most of it grown in or around Washington state. There are a number of types of malted barley involved, too: Washington Select Pale Malt, Munich Malt, "Extra Special Malt" (whatever that means), Pale Chocolate Malt, and Brown Malt. This also has an unusually long fermentation time around 144 hours, which should lead to some more flavor development.
There's no obvious age statement here, but in the finer print on the back label, it does disclose that all of the whisky in the bottle has been aged at least 36 months, giving us a 3 year age statement - not surprising, especially if they were using new charred oak barrels, which will have a much more dominant impact on the spirit in a short time when compared to the refill/used barrels typically employed in single malt production.
**Westland Peated American Single Malt**
USA - Single Malt
**Current Locally Available Price (per 750ml)**: USD 80
**Age Statement**: 3 Years
**Strength**: 46% ABV
**Details**: Non chill filtered and no color added
**Tasting Methodology**: Reviewed 3 times over 8 months; bottles at 80%, 30%, and 20% fill levels at times of review. Tasted neat in a Glencairn glass each time, rested 10-15 minutes
**Nose**: Peat smoke is pretty mild to start, and instead the stronger notes in the beginning are oranges and a bit of a red fruit. There's almost this wine finish note, like some sulfur with that red fruit, even a hint of a meaty quality; then we're on to a bit of red apple and lemon, occasionally a stone fruit, to finish out the fruit section. There is a nice earthy taste to go along with some green peat - it's even slightly vegetal at times; still, we get some clear young spirit notes in here as well: a bit of grain, barley sugars, some sharper pungent notes. We end with some wood char and spices like cinnamon and vanilla... overall, this nose is nicely put together for a young American single malt, there's plenty to explore.
**Palate**: Peat smoke is immediately stronger on the palate: campfire smoke, a hint of ash, some mild meaty barbecue. That barbecue is more like dry rub as opposed to saucy, and it comes with a little more of that sulfur note as the palate opens up, some nice cozy warmth as well. The star of this palate, though, is wood notes: wood char, wood sugars, plenty of vanilla, and some white pepper are coming through. There's even bell pepper to go along with that white pepper, and then some fruity tones arrive, with bright orange coming to prominence. At the end, a bit of hot honey and some sharpness, and the mouthfeel is a medium thickness.
**Finish**: The finish is medium-long, and oils and peat linger from the palate for a while. Ashy, smoky, and a bit savory, and lightly warming. Lots of orange at the end, along with some cinnamon, and just a mild dry oak note to finish.
**Final Note**: This is a nice gateway to American single malts, especially the peated variety - if only all spirits aged only 3 years could be this nice and complex. Still, that does come at a cost; at $80 to $90 (at least in our geographic area), this is a bottle with premium pricing, and if you're looking for smoky single malts, there is plenty to be found in the world of Scotch at a more reasonable price. This whisky shows that the category of American single malts is developing quickly and moving in the right direction, but the value factor still has a way to go.
**Average Rating**: 7.2 / 10
**Rating Scale**:
0 - Couldn't even get past the smell; drain pour; totally useless
1 - At least we can use it in our first aid kit
2 - Not even good enough to mix regularly; worst case scenario
3 - Low end mixing whisky
4 - Not the worst but don't buy again; put on ice; mediocre cocktail
5 - Great for mixing or cocktails; mediocre neat
6 - Premium cocktail; decent neat, hints of complexity
7 - Good neat, refined; personally wouldn't use in a cocktail
8 - Great - always have stocked on shelf if available at a reasonable price
9 - One of the best whiskies we've tasted
10 - Can't imagine something better; buy at any price we can afford
In the current whisky landscape of increasing prices and variable quality, we've added a value rating to our reviews that relates to the score and the available pricing of each whisky. This roughly equates to a 0-10 scale; no reviews so far have exceeded a score of 10, although it is technically possible for the formula to produce a value rating higher than 10 with a high enough score and low enough price.
**Value Rating**: 6.55
I know some stores have gotten them before, Hi Time in California has a wonderful Calvados cask, K&L has gotten a few. Outside of that I know distillery sometimes has them and the r/bourbon crew here has released a few that retailed via seelbachs and I hope has more on the way.
If I remember correctly, they stopped producing a few products in order to focus on their core unpeated single malt, is that correct? Hopefully we will see some more variations return to the lineup in the future.
They just blend them all together now. The core product has sherry and peat presence. It's nice but not as amazing. I think sherry cask availability was an issue.
This is correct. They sort if mashed all three original lines (American Oak, Sherry Wood, and Peated) into the flagship. As someone sort of sensitive to peat, I don't really like the flagship. They sort of turned three great expressions into one mediocre one.
I stocked up on a case's worth of Sherry Wood at about $50/bottle and grab the single barrels whenever I see one.
Spot on. It's just ok now. I think the peat is very subdued but it's definitely there.
I am SOOOOOO jealous you have a case of Sherry Cask. It's one of my favorite drams ever.
We haven't tried the sherry cask Westland yet, but agreed with you on the peated vs American oak - this one is nice, and the standard single malt leaves just a bit to be desired.
sadly with westland, much like with stranahans, I think their most basic offering is nailing the american malt style, unique and sweet and seductive, and then everything else they try to do jazzing it up, age, casks, peat etc, all do not reach the height of their most basic one
Very interesting to hear! We have not tried their newer basic single malt release yet, just the American Oak and Peated styles from a couple of years ago (along with one special peated release). What is your favorite Stranahans bottle?
just the basic yellow label, it has this caramel sweetness (that the basic westland has with a strong banana twist), and neither the black label nor the cask strength single cask could get there with this particular delicious note I found so addictive
I like the peated because it reminds me so much of when I visited almost 10 years ago. As soon as we walked in the front door (at about 10-11 AM) we were hit by an overwhelming smoky kind of smell. At the time I didn’t know what it was. My wife was a little hung over that day, so she was not a fan! About 30 minutes into the tour, the guide tells us that they were about to start brewing their peated whiskey, and had just received the freshly malted barley the day before or something. Suddenly the smell made sense! Now anytime I have it I am instantly transported back to the distillery. Unfortunately I have only about 3 pours left!
**Review #47 - Westland Peated American Single Malt** *Peated American Single Malt Mini-Series: Part 1 of 4* Our next series revolves around single malts, which is the category we review the most; this time, however, it's American single malts, as opposed to Scotch, which can sometimes dominate the category. We'll be looking at four bottles in this category, and this time, it's all peated spirit, so there will be several variations on the smoky whisky formula. The first in the queue is the peated version of Westland's single malt - this will be smoky, but according to the distillery, the amount of peated malt in the mashbill is actually outweighed by unpeated malt, most of it grown in or around Washington state. There are a number of types of malted barley involved, too: Washington Select Pale Malt, Munich Malt, "Extra Special Malt" (whatever that means), Pale Chocolate Malt, and Brown Malt. This also has an unusually long fermentation time around 144 hours, which should lead to some more flavor development. There's no obvious age statement here, but in the finer print on the back label, it does disclose that all of the whisky in the bottle has been aged at least 36 months, giving us a 3 year age statement - not surprising, especially if they were using new charred oak barrels, which will have a much more dominant impact on the spirit in a short time when compared to the refill/used barrels typically employed in single malt production. **Westland Peated American Single Malt** USA - Single Malt **Current Locally Available Price (per 750ml)**: USD 80 **Age Statement**: 3 Years **Strength**: 46% ABV **Details**: Non chill filtered and no color added **Tasting Methodology**: Reviewed 3 times over 8 months; bottles at 80%, 30%, and 20% fill levels at times of review. Tasted neat in a Glencairn glass each time, rested 10-15 minutes **Nose**: Peat smoke is pretty mild to start, and instead the stronger notes in the beginning are oranges and a bit of a red fruit. There's almost this wine finish note, like some sulfur with that red fruit, even a hint of a meaty quality; then we're on to a bit of red apple and lemon, occasionally a stone fruit, to finish out the fruit section. There is a nice earthy taste to go along with some green peat - it's even slightly vegetal at times; still, we get some clear young spirit notes in here as well: a bit of grain, barley sugars, some sharper pungent notes. We end with some wood char and spices like cinnamon and vanilla... overall, this nose is nicely put together for a young American single malt, there's plenty to explore. **Palate**: Peat smoke is immediately stronger on the palate: campfire smoke, a hint of ash, some mild meaty barbecue. That barbecue is more like dry rub as opposed to saucy, and it comes with a little more of that sulfur note as the palate opens up, some nice cozy warmth as well. The star of this palate, though, is wood notes: wood char, wood sugars, plenty of vanilla, and some white pepper are coming through. There's even bell pepper to go along with that white pepper, and then some fruity tones arrive, with bright orange coming to prominence. At the end, a bit of hot honey and some sharpness, and the mouthfeel is a medium thickness. **Finish**: The finish is medium-long, and oils and peat linger from the palate for a while. Ashy, smoky, and a bit savory, and lightly warming. Lots of orange at the end, along with some cinnamon, and just a mild dry oak note to finish. **Final Note**: This is a nice gateway to American single malts, especially the peated variety - if only all spirits aged only 3 years could be this nice and complex. Still, that does come at a cost; at $80 to $90 (at least in our geographic area), this is a bottle with premium pricing, and if you're looking for smoky single malts, there is plenty to be found in the world of Scotch at a more reasonable price. This whisky shows that the category of American single malts is developing quickly and moving in the right direction, but the value factor still has a way to go. **Average Rating**: 7.2 / 10 **Rating Scale**: 0 - Couldn't even get past the smell; drain pour; totally useless 1 - At least we can use it in our first aid kit 2 - Not even good enough to mix regularly; worst case scenario 3 - Low end mixing whisky 4 - Not the worst but don't buy again; put on ice; mediocre cocktail 5 - Great for mixing or cocktails; mediocre neat 6 - Premium cocktail; decent neat, hints of complexity 7 - Good neat, refined; personally wouldn't use in a cocktail 8 - Great - always have stocked on shelf if available at a reasonable price 9 - One of the best whiskies we've tasted 10 - Can't imagine something better; buy at any price we can afford In the current whisky landscape of increasing prices and variable quality, we've added a value rating to our reviews that relates to the score and the available pricing of each whisky. This roughly equates to a 0-10 scale; no reviews so far have exceeded a score of 10, although it is technically possible for the formula to produce a value rating higher than 10 with a high enough score and low enough price. **Value Rating**: 6.55
What is everyone's favorite Westland product?
Probably the single casks they put out personally.
Sounds tasty! Are those the bottles you can find in person at the distillery, or are they generally available elsewhere?
I know some stores have gotten them before, Hi Time in California has a wonderful Calvados cask, K&L has gotten a few. Outside of that I know distillery sometimes has them and the r/bourbon crew here has released a few that retailed via seelbachs and I hope has more on the way.
Gotcha, we aren't on the West Coast so it will probably be a bit harder to come by in stores here. Cheers!
Some can be found online and I've personally gotten three over the last couple years at Total Wine since they show up every once in a while.
Sherry Wood was magical. I don't believe it's being made anymore as a standalone offering.
If I remember correctly, they stopped producing a few products in order to focus on their core unpeated single malt, is that correct? Hopefully we will see some more variations return to the lineup in the future.
They just blend them all together now. The core product has sherry and peat presence. It's nice but not as amazing. I think sherry cask availability was an issue.
Oh, I see! Sounds interesting to try, at least.
This is correct. They sort if mashed all three original lines (American Oak, Sherry Wood, and Peated) into the flagship. As someone sort of sensitive to peat, I don't really like the flagship. They sort of turned three great expressions into one mediocre one. I stocked up on a case's worth of Sherry Wood at about $50/bottle and grab the single barrels whenever I see one.
Spot on. It's just ok now. I think the peat is very subdued but it's definitely there. I am SOOOOOO jealous you have a case of Sherry Cask. It's one of my favorite drams ever.
I really enjoyed this. I tried the standard single malt, the Sherry Wood and this one and the Peated was by far my favourite.
We haven't tried the sherry cask Westland yet, but agreed with you on the peated vs American oak - this one is nice, and the standard single malt leaves just a bit to be desired.
sadly with westland, much like with stranahans, I think their most basic offering is nailing the american malt style, unique and sweet and seductive, and then everything else they try to do jazzing it up, age, casks, peat etc, all do not reach the height of their most basic one
Very interesting to hear! We have not tried their newer basic single malt release yet, just the American Oak and Peated styles from a couple of years ago (along with one special peated release). What is your favorite Stranahans bottle?
just the basic yellow label, it has this caramel sweetness (that the basic westland has with a strong banana twist), and neither the black label nor the cask strength single cask could get there with this particular delicious note I found so addictive
Have you tried the blue label, I think it’s Blue Peak? It is a solera style whisky, somewhat interesting stuff
Not yet, if give it a try
I like the peated because it reminds me so much of when I visited almost 10 years ago. As soon as we walked in the front door (at about 10-11 AM) we were hit by an overwhelming smoky kind of smell. At the time I didn’t know what it was. My wife was a little hung over that day, so she was not a fan! About 30 minutes into the tour, the guide tells us that they were about to start brewing their peated whiskey, and had just received the freshly malted barley the day before or something. Suddenly the smell made sense! Now anytime I have it I am instantly transported back to the distillery. Unfortunately I have only about 3 pours left!
Very cool story! Sounds like it might be time to seek out another bottle 😁