Just six days to go until American Single Malt Whiskey goes into effect as an official TTB category!

Today is Day Two of SEVEN DAYS OF AMERICAN SINGLE MALT WHISKEYS, my personal celebration of this momentous occasion and the amazing ASMW whiskeys being produced from coast to coast.

If you missed it, you can find Day 1, featuring Stryker by Andalusia Whiskey Co., here.

Today, I pulled out—and freshly uncorked—a bottle of Westland Beer Cash Finish American Single Malt Whiskey, Batch No. 1.

I visited Westland Distillery‘s Seattle-area headquarters about three years ago, and have had a soft spot for the distillery ever since. It was the first time I really got a sense of the community of whiskey, and especially the community among ASMW distillers and fans. I was working as a tour guide at Whiskey Del Bac at the time, and I casually mentioned it when we arrived, just to say how excited I was to be there.

The distillery didn’t yet have tours up and running after COVID, but my companion and I were immediately treated to a mini tour of the facilities, even taking a tiny sip of still-developing whiskey products in the distillery’s lab. Two weeks later, when our impromptu tour guide happened to be in Tucson, I connected her with my colleagues to ensure she got the same warm welcome.

We walked out at the end of the visit with two bottles: their flagship ASMW (the original version) and a “Cask Exploration” bottle featuring whiskey aged in a cask that previously held Redhook Brewery’s Stratosphere Barley Wine Beer.

The distillery has grown and changed significantly since then, sharpening their focus on a refreshed core range of whiskeys in 2024. I got to revisit the Flagship Single Malt with my whiskey advent calendar in December, but I also recently picked up this bottle of Beer Cask Finish American Single Malt Whiskey.

According to the label, this whiskey “celebrates the Pacific Northwest’s long tradition of craft brewing by integrating saison, stout, scotch ale, and doppelbock casks” to finish the whiskey. A total of seven different breweries partnered with Westland to provide (or perhaps return) barrels for the inaugural batch.

There’s no age statement on the bottle, but the distillery notes a minimum age of 8 years, more than double the Flagship’s 40 months.

At first sip, it’s whiskey, malty and true with hints of fruit and vanilla. Of course, it’s whiskey all the way through, but the finish? Oh man, that’s a saison. It’s been a long time since I’ve had a saison beer, but that crisp, lingering, straight-from-the-earth influence is absolutely unmistakable.

It’s nuanced, layered, and delicious. It’s also a whiskey that could only be “thoughtfully produced” in the PNW, crafted and infused with the terroir and culture of that region.

Sláinte, y’all!

In My Glass

Westland Beer Cask Finish American Single Malt Whiskey, Batch No. 1

Westland Distillery (Birmingham, Washington)

46% ABV; 8+ Years Old

American Single Malt Whiskey

On My Desk

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Manual Typewriter

c. 1946