Whisky : Westland Peated American Single Malt

Country/Region : US/Cascadia

ABV : 46%

Cask : New American Oak/Ex-Bourbon

Age : 3+ Years

Tasting : Neat in a Glencairn @ Home

Nose :  Sweet scent of earthy loam and bog water.  Faint iodine mixes with the sweet to give the impression of salted caramel.  More ashy than smokey, it’s a burnt out fire pit.  Bits of old leather, book binding, paste, and tobacco hint at the musty character of the spirit.  In the background are lavender floral notes along with some ginger and nutmeg. 

Palate : Honey, tobacco, and a mild nuttiness— honey roasted peanuts.  Subtle sea salt, milk chocolate, and barley sugar ride a medium to light body.  The body matches the nose well, varying between sweet, salty, and musty notes, though it is an order less intense than the nose.

Finish : Medium length, faint ginger, primarily sweet barley or mung bean tea.

Score : 4

Mental Image :  Eating trail mix sitting around the ashes of an old campfire.

Something Better : Westland Peat Week 2019 (more maritime, more body, more complexity)

Something Similar : Arran Machrie Moor (similar nuttiness, ash, and body)

Something Worse : Kilchoman Machir Bay (slightly richer nose, weaker body, similar ash & spice)

Notes : An intriguing combination of peated malt from Scotland and Westland’s five malt blend, all distilled, casked, and aged in the Pacific Northwest.  The result is a dram the combines some of the sweet honey and barley sugar of the Westland American Oak with the savory, slightly earthy, notes of a heavily peated Highland scotch.  

This was the Westland bottle that first caught my eye.  A peated whisky from an American distiller?  The idea seemed odd— I was not sure what to make of it, but I was game to try it.  However, the price, a bit higher than say Ardbeg 10 or any of the Port Charlottes, left me spending my pennies on the reliable Islay malts instead.  I remained curious, especially after I picked up the Westland Garryana 2018 edition and absolutely loved it. The healthy dose of peat in that dram seemed to promise good things and the hype train finally left the station after I grabbed the 2019 Week of Peat whose beautiful layers of phenolic notes showed real depth.  

Finally a bottle went on sale at a great discount.  A local shop put all of their Westland bottles, save the Sherry Wood, on clearance.  They told me that the Westland bottles had been discontinued. I am not sure that is the case and they did not explain why the Sherry Wood would not also be discontinued (by themselves, the distributor, or Westland itself).  I admit that I have a love-shrug relationship with this store; it has cut its Scotch selection back a lot over the last couples years and they have a habit of not putting out limited edition or allocated bottles.  Things seem to disappear into their backroom, reemerging years later, if at all.  No matter my discontent, a discount is a discount, and whether Westland is really being discontinued or not, I availed myself the opportunity to grab the Peated (and a few extra bottles of the American Oak).

This long ramble rather dodges the question of whether I liked it.  I did enjoy it— but I think there are many better bottles at the same price point, especially if you are looking for a lovely peated dram.  It has neither the same exceptional profile nor viscous body as the American Oak.  It falls off the balance beam across the pit of balance— it sacrifices peated intensity on the one hand and thick berries and oak on the other.  Not every dram has to be life changing, but I wonder if I would have enjoyed it a little bit more if it had a little bit less peat— or if it really needs a healthy dose more.  Its a dram that is almost there, but just not quite.