After really enjoying the Westland Sherry Wood I wanted to try the peated expression. Westland is one of the few major American Malt producers at the moment who are not producing complete hot steaming garbage.

Price: $70 for 750ml

Distilled/Owned by: Westland / Rémy Cointreau

Region: Washington

46% ABV

Aged For: Minimum 2 years

Mashbill: 100% malted barley

Cask Type: First fill ex-bourbon, Cooper’s select new American oak, Cooper’s reserve new American oak

Chill Filtered: No

Color Added: No

 

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Color: Golden Barley

Drank: Neat, in a glencairn

Nose: Strangely, banana. Smoke, Lemons, Pie Crust, Cedar.

Taste: Watery, with more banana. A bit of caramel and sour peat.

Finish: Bit of warmth, citrus, more smoke than nose and palate. Short to medium in length.

Thoughts: I’m not a fan of smokey bananas. You can tell it’s a young spirit, but the smoke takes a lot of the fresh zest of it that the sherry wood captured to its advantage. Not very good in its current state, maybe some additional aging will improve this.

Score: 68 out of 100