Review #144 - Westland American Oak Single Malt
One of the distilleries taking center stage in the new wave of American single malt whiskies, Westland started operations back in 2010, specializing solely in single malts, unlike the majority of American whisky distilleries. They've been one of the leaders of the charge to formalize the rules for the American single malt category, pushing for standards such as a 100% malted barley mashbill.
Before they began producing their current core range release, the Westland American Single Malt (the one with 'Thoughtfully Made' printed at the top of the label), they began with a series of three core releases: an American Oak aged release, a sherry cask matured release, and a peated single malt release.
Today we're looking at the 'American Oak' release - while they're no longer producing it, there's still plenty floating around shelves. There's no smoky peat or sweet sherry cask maturation, just single malt distillate aged in new charred American oak for a minimum of three years.
As is common nowadays in the single malt whisky market (both in the US and abroad, and especially in Scotch), this is bottled at 46% ABV, pushing this toward the 'craft' bottling standards that many whisky enthusiasts are asking for.
Westland American Oak Single Malt
USA - Single Malt
Price Paid: USD 70 (2021)
Current Locally Available Price: USD 71 (2023)
Age Statement: 3 Years
Strength: 46% ABV
Tasting Methodology: Reviewed 4 times over 18 months; bottles at 100%, 80%, 50%, and 90% fill levels at times of review. Tasted in a Glencairn glass each time, rested 10-15 minutes
Nose: Rich, juicy, and malty - this is barley-forward, even for a single malt. The fruitier notes comes from cherries and sweet red wine, along with a hint of grape; the oak is plentiful despite the 3 year age, and comes with notes of char and hickory. Sweet baking spices of brown sugar, caramel, and maple sugar are here; later, that malty note transitions to a strong chocolate flavor: chocolate syrup, even spiced Mexican chocolate.
Palate: Mega malty chocolate, tons of dark sweet flavors. The mouthfeel is medium, and there's a definite oiliness, with molasses and smooth syrup. We do get a bit of spice up front, like cinnamon, paprika, maybe black pepper, but this generally dives into those chocolatey flavors: milk chocolate, malty milkshake, tootsie rolls, and that fake chocolate syrup. There are hints of cherry still floating around, and later, just a hint of barbecue and cardamom.
Finish: Medium length, still oily and sweet: chocolate, malt, brown sugar, and chocolate-covered cherries. There's still a hint of hot cinnamon spice, and at the end, another whiff of black pepper.
Final Note: The longer this is open, the better and better it gets; our ratings consistently trended upward with time. Drinks richer than the 46% bottling strength, and if you like a whisky with a malty note, this has it in spades. Very chocolatey, and a surprising amount of red fruit for a whisky with no aging in ex-wine casks. There are a lot of mediocre American single malts on the market right now, but this isn't one of them - this is solid stuff, and recommended if you're looking for an introduction to the category.
Our Average Rating: 6.7 / 10
In the current whisky landscape of increasing prices and variable quality, we've added a value rating to our reviews that relates to the score and the available pricing of each whisky. This roughly equates to a 0-10 scale; no reviews so far have exceeded a score of 10, although it is technically possible for the formula to produce a value rating higher than 10 with a high enough score and low enough price.
Value Rating: 6.48
Check out our other American single malt reviews:
Review #50 - Westland Peat Week 2019
Review #49 - Kings County American Single Malt
