...where distraction is the main attraction.

Tuesday, October 23, 2018

Westland 2 year old 2012, cask 300 for K&L Wines

Washington state, the birthplace of Starbucks, Amazon, Kurt Cobain, Bing Crosby, David Lynch, Ryne Sandberg and Keyboard Cat, is rain-soaked on its west coast and arid on the east coast. Most of its humans live in the wet part, with 30% of the population living in King County.

Thank you, Wikipedia.

I visited Washington's Westland Distillery three years ago, and wrote an extensive post about the experience which is recommend if you're looking for more info. Westland makes my favorite American single malts, and their single casks can be very very good. Yesterday I reviewed a peated ex-oloroso cask Westland. Today it's an unpeated single malt, matured within a fino cask.


Distillery: Westland
Region: Seattle, Washington
Type: Single Malt
Age: 33 months
Bottled: June 2015
Cask #: 300
Mashbill: Washington Select Pale Malt
Maturation: first fill ex-Fino cask
Outturn: 261 bottles (maybe a hoggie?)
Alcohol by volume: 60.8%
(From a Columbus Scotch Club event)

NEAT
The nose is subtler than cask 284's. Toasted barley, almonds, hazelnuts, glazed pastries. Peaches, pears, anise, sweet cream, cocoa and silly putty. The palate has the same delicacy and nuance. Almonds, dried apricots, green grapes. A salty/savoury note. Moments of lemons and wood smoke. It finishes nutty and warm. Lemon, honey and barley. A gentle sweetness. Lots of walnuts!

Very reluctant to add water, but...

DILUTED TO ~46%abv, <2tsp of water per 30ml whisky
The nose is a fresh almond croissant with a dusting of confectioner's sugar. Then hints of brine, black licorice, and cookie dough. In the palate, it's malt, nuts, salt, lime, a gentle sweetness and a hint of smoke. The finish remains nearly the same as it was when neat. Perhaps a little saltier.

WORDS WORDS WORDS
I tried this along with yesterday's peated Oloroso cask 2yo. That one was very good. This one is better.

It made me shut off the music I was playing and then I forgot to take notes for a while. A delight and mystery, this Westland possesses the elegance of my favorite (mostly deceased) Japanese malts. How a whisky can be this delicate and this precise at this age and strength, I haven't a clue. I mean, like, what?

Dear Rémy Cointreau, don't fuck this up.

Availability - sold out
Pricing - $100
Rating - 91