The Whiskey Reviewer A World of Whiskey, Poured Every Weekday

By Richard Thomas Rating: B As a wood geek, I’ve taken great interest in Westland Distillery’s project to age some of their stock in new casks made from garryana oak, referred to them sometimes simple as “garry,” a species native to their Washington state stomping grounds. For five years now, Westland has released a whisky drawing on their garry-aged stock, ...

By Richard Thomas Rating: B+ The old timey circus bill-styled label is back, as Westland Distillery’s 2020 Annual Peat Week has come and gone, leaving behind it 590 bottles of American single malt. This being the 6th installment in the series, the pattern should be familiar to fans of either peaty whisky (usually Scottish) or American craft whiskey by now, ...

By Richard Thomas Rating: B+ I’m a wood nerd. This extends well beyond whiskey: I like trees, wood floors, wood furniture, wood burning, etc. In terms of whiskey, I’ve become keenly interested in the properties of different species of oak and their regional growing patterns. This explains why I pay the keenest attention to what Seattle’s Westland Distillery does with ...

By Richard Thomas Rating: B+ In November 2018, Seattle’s Westland Distillery launched a new annual, limited edition series billed as an exploration of blending. What Matt Hofmann and his crew say they are up to is taking a looser approach to bringing together different strains of whisky, as opposed to moving along a course that brings them to a set ...

By Richard Thomas Rating: B Seattle’s Westland Distillery has staked itself out as a leader in the rising category of American Single Malts, placing a major emphasis on adapting the model to their home in the Pacific Northwest. That includes harvesting local peat for use in making their peated malts, and for five years now they put the spotlight on ...