A tribute to Oregon’s legendary Willamette Valley wine country, this elegant whiskey is influenced by the region’s premier grape varietal: Pinot Noir.
This cask-finished whiskey reflects the vibrance of the Valley’s signature grape while allowing the bold, robust notes of our whiskey to shine through. Our Pinot Noir Cask begins with our original Westward American Single Malt, which is then finished for up to two years in French Oak wine casks from a handful of award-winning producers in the region.
Westward Whiskey
Appearance
Deep orange gold in colour, and the swirl line is very thick on my Copita glass, with a few slow thick legs and teardrops that hang just below the swirl line.
Nose
One first sniff I can say I’ve not smelt a whisky like this before, and I’m really going to need to think about it’s aromas, and most likely it’s flavours too.
The first aroma I get is aromatic wood, there’s what I can only describe as what I think blood orange marmalade would smell like, it’s carrying lots of sweetness and citrus peel. Slightly unripe strawberries float around, cherries too, and they mix in with a botanical aromas.
It’s becoming such a juicy dram, more red berries, then a first for me, I’m getting kiwi fruits and gooseberries. Wood varnish is slowly creeping in now, it’s a little dusty, and perhaps watermelon.
Palate
The mouthfeel is medium thick, and yes the palate is quite unique too. Initially it’s charred wood, with cherryade, royal icing, pecans, and a smokiness.
More time and I’m finding chocolate coated strawberries, espresso, pomello’s, and a slight bitterness with some drying. Fisherman’s friends throat sweets and a faint salinity perfectly describe the end of the main palate for me.
Finish
The finish is long side of medium in length, and I think it’s taken until now for the spiciness to start shinning through. I’m getting black pepper, cumin, and quite a strong cinnamon flavour, cardamom too, it’s unique.
My thoughts
Iv’e wanted to know what the whiskeys from Westward are like, iv’e had my eye on them for a while now to be honest, and i finally got to try one, thanks to Phil.
I have to say this particular bottling is one of the most unique whisk(e)y’s iv’e tried. From the first sniff of my glass it was obvious that this is quite a complex dram, and one i really needed to think about aromas and flavours wise. For me this is the kind of whisky i’m looking for, a whiskey that stops you because it’s so different, a new experience where autopilot has to be turned off.
Personally i think this is a whiskey for a drinker with experience of the wider aromas and flavours whisk(e)y’s can offer, i’d say it isn’t for the faint hearted, and could be a little overwhelming for folk newer to drinking whisk(e)y. If like me you enjoy finding new whisk(e)y experiences, this could be one for you, but tread carefully, this one pulls no punches. I really enjoyed it, and i’d personally enjoy a bottle of it.
A big thank you goes out to my Whisk(e)y friend Phil, @ingo74 on Twitter for the generous sample.
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