WESTWARD AMERICAN SINGLE MALT STOUT CASK 70CL

Description

Westward American Single Malt Stout Cask: Oregon Whiskey Meets Craft Brewing

Westward Whiskey is based in Portland, Oregon, a city closely associated with the craft brewing movement in the United States. Its American Single Malt Stout Cask expression reflects this regional culture through a distinctive finishing process involving barrels previously used to mature Stout beer.

The whiskey begins with malted two-row barley sourced from the Pacific Northwest. Westward approaches production from a brewer's perspective, preparing an ale-style wash and fermenting it with brewing yeast before distillation.

The fermented liquid is double-distilled in copper pot stills, creating a spirit with a pronounced malt character. It is then aged in new American oak barrels, where it develops vanilla, caramel, toasted grain and oak flavours.

The Stout Cask expression is based on a longstanding barrel-exchange tradition between Westward and local breweries. After the distillery has used its oak barrels for whiskey maturation, some are supplied to brewing partners, who fill them with Stout beer.

Stout is a dark beer style commonly associated with roasted malt, cocoa and coffee aromas. When the barrels are returned to Westward, they retain aromatic compounds from the beer and are used for a further period of whiskey maturation.

Westward Original is transferred into these Stout-seasoned barrels for up to twelve months. This finishing period introduces additional roasted and chocolate notes while preserving the cereal character of the original whiskey.

The official tasting notes begin with hazelnut, honeycomb and roasted barley. On the palate, milk chocolate is accompanied by banana and almond toffee. The finish combines oaky vanilla, chocolate almond, mint and citrus.

Other tasting descriptions mention plum, apricot, sweet spices and dried fruit. These flavours complement the malt and the roasted character contributed by the beer barrels.

The whiskey is bottled at 46% ABV, providing sufficient structure to showcase both the original American single malt and the influence of the Stout casks.

It is best explored neat, allowing the aromas to develop gradually in the glass. A small addition of water may also be used according to personal preference.

The Westward Stout Cask offers an example of how American single malt producers can draw on local brewing traditions to develop distinctive whiskey expressions. Its character comes from the combination of malted barley, craft beer fermentation techniques, American oak maturation and a finishing period in Stout-seasoned barrels.