Whisky: Westland 5 Year Cask 2949 for r/Bourbon

Country/Region: US/Washington

ABV: 54.23%

Cask: Oloroso Sherry Hogshead

Age: 5 Years (Distilled 11 June 2015, Bottled 22. Feb. 2021)

Nose: Malt, toffee, and fruit.  Waves of tobacco and rich fruit arrived with toffee and malted chocolate milk candies.  Butterfinger bars and black sugar candies gave my teeth tingles as hints of grape and lotus root cakes lingered in the background. 

Palate: Medium-bodied with sugary dried fruit and spice. Malty notes of holidays pastries came to mind as dried fruits— raisins, sultanas, dates, and figs— danced across the palate with hints of cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. Leather and rubber boots led to red currants and cola while dried tobacco, black pepper, and subtle licorice lingered at the end. Water gave the dram a lovely creaminess and elevated candied fruits and licorice notes.

Finish: Lingering dried fruits and cinnamon.

Score: 5

Mental Image: Fruit Cake Humidor

Notes: Sherry-driven drams are not typically my cup of tea, so I suspect fans of heavily sherried single malts will find a lot more here to love than I did. Though it might sound funny, this was the most “scotch” tasting Westland I have ever encountered. If I tasted this blind, I imagine that I would have thought this was a first-fill sherry Glenrothes.

I felt as though this whisky lacked some of the essence of Westland. It felt less influenced or reflective of the terroir of Washington or Cascadia, which usually comes through so clearly. I imagine that single malt aficionados who thought Westland was a bit young, oak forward, or occasionally too funky would appreciate how close this hewed toward a traditional sherry-driven single malt.  

Overall, an intriguing Westland drenched in sherry. It benefited from a few drops of water, and though it was endowed with a scotch-y familiarity, it seemed to sacrifice some of the distillery character. I realize that amounts to a vague hand gesture toward terroir or method, but I could never quite pinpoint why I thought this felt uncharacteristic of the distillery. Perhaps it was simply the cask and its heavy influence on the malt rather than anything strange going on at the distillery back in June 2015.

Image Credit: Seelbachs