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
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