Westland American Single Malt Whiskey Cask Strength S1B11

Most Westland bottlings are marriages of multiple casks selected to create a balanced single malt. In searching the wide expanse of our rack houses, we set aside casks that exhibit a unique character that deserves to be expressed on its own. Each year we earmark these casks for our best partners around the world so that they may share these truly remarkable casks with their customers. No two casks are exactly alike, making each whiskey in our Private Cask Program a fleeting glimpse into the incredible diversity across our whiskey stocks.

Brian Schmidt, Topflight Panel Member:

We're very excited to release our first American Single Malt in the Topflight Series with a bottle from a founding member of the American Single Malt Commission and one of the original makers of this fine spirit. The American Single Malt category is rapidly growing and in the process of being officialized by the TTB. It's one we'll be exploring in our Cocktail Lounge and our Topflight Series, with several selections from the distilleries around the country. This particular cask strength, single malt release, is an outstanding example of a peated offering in the category and somewhat unique due to its aging in a new American oak barrel. This bottle is an excellent showcase of how peat and new oak can work together, spending just shy of 7 years in a heavily toasted cask to create a remarkable pour. Naturally, the peat jumps from the glass, but it's joined by a brownie batter and blackberries. The smokiness continues onto the palate, where dark chocolate and vanilla cream meet before subsiding into a well-rounded oak and smoke finish. My first tasting of this likened it to drinking hot chocolate by a campfire, but as I returned to it, it's closer to a hot fudge sundae with a cherry on top. This dram holds its own against the best Islay scotches twice its age and cask strength. If you love peated scotch, this is an impressive American challenger you have to try.

PROOF: 109.34

AGE: 7 Years

BARREL: Independent Stave Company, Coopers Reserve

CHAR: #1 Char, Heavy Toast

Bottle Size: 750ml