There are a few great airports in the world and then there are the rest.  Air travel is almost never a strictly pleasurable activity. Long layovers in airports spent with other high strung passengers and stressed employees can be the worst part of any trip.  But what if you could spend your layover at a tasting bar?

The Portland Airport might not rank up there with the elites of global travel, but it was a great experience when my wife and I passed through. The House Spirits/Westward Tasting Bar deserves a lot the credit for that.  

After stumbling off a plane, we were immediately overcome by our primordial urge to hunt: where is the closest bathroom?  Where can we get some food? Before going too prehistoric, we found ourselves facing across from the tasting room and our civilized senses return. Our vacation was off to a great start.

The first thing to note is that the PDX Tasting Room is not a bar and they cannot pour you a full dram of any spirit. They are, as the name would indicate, just a Tasting Experience.  My wife and I quickly made up our mind to split the Westward Whisky Flight. The staff at the Tasting Room was warm, welcoming, and knowledgeable.  They explained each of the four drams on the flight and gave background information about House Spirits & the Westward brand, their philosophy, and their distilling/blending methodologies.

The Flight

The Westward Whisky Flight included 4 tasters: Westward White Dog, Westward American Single Malt, the limited edition Westward American Single Malt Rum Cask Finish, and a highball made with the Westward single malt, House bitters, and soda water.

It was really interesting to sample the new make White Dog against aged malts.  It was a great way to get a feel for the natural pastry-fruit notes of the distillate and then segue into seeing the effect of three or more years in new American Oak or an ex-Rum Cask.  I think we were both surprised by the quality of the Westward Single Malt especially the sweet pipe tobacco and savory leather notes. We were really taken aback at the complexity of the limited release Rum Cask Finish.  It was a hard decision as to whether or not we could adopt a bottle to take with us. Both drams showed remarkable maturity for only being 3-5 years according to the staff who added that each outturn of Westward is made by combining only a couple dozen barrels of single malt at a time.

We passed on picking anything up and looking back I think it was a missed opportunity.  We reasoned at the time that was just the beginning of our travels, so we were not ready to start loading up on bottles just yet. I also thought maybe Westward was available locally to pick up when we got home again.  Sadly, that did not turn out to be the case. The Rum Cask was pricey but it was excellent and I would be hard pressed to say no if given another chance to grab a bottle. However, I think if we could go back, we would buy a bottle of the standard Westward Single Malt.  I would love to be able to compare it to Seattle’s Westland and other American distilleries producing single malts with yeast strains and barley varietals typically reserved for beer production.

Whisky : Westward American Single Malt

Country/Region : US/Oregon

ABV : 45%

Cask : New American Oak

Tasting : Neat in a Glencairn @ PDX

Nose : Rich fruit and spice jump out followed by sweet toasted brown sugar.

Palate : Autumn and winter spices give a jolly hug to the palate.  Sweet dry fruits and smouldering tobacco leaf round out the dram with hints of dry leather.  The faintly sweet pipe tobacco complements the fruit and spice.

Finish : Medium length with stewed fruits and burnt sugar fading away.

Grade : C+

Whisky : Westward American Single Malt Rum Cask Finish

Country/Region :US/Oregon

ABV : 45%

Cask : New American Oak, Ex-House Spirits Rum Cask Finish

Tasting : Neat in a Glencairn @ PDX

Nose : Dried apricots and stone fruits, baking marzipan, and sweet butter.  Someone in the kitchen is making a fruity boozy tarte.

Palate : Bright tropical fruits and nutty ground almonds are backed by white pepper and cinnamon spice.  It is sweeter and less savory than the standard malt, but the combination of floral spices and tropical fruits workers well with the almond-like pastry notes.

Finish : Long and sweet finish of tropical rum infused punch.

Grade : B-