Westland Peat Week 2020 Whiskey Review

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, but the (smoky) devil is in the details.

In this case, cask 3369 was a new French oak puncheon that received a medium toasting and no charring. This was filled with a whiskey made from Baird’s Heavily Peated Malt, and matured for 50 months. The whiskey was bottled at 120.8 proof.

The Whiskey
Perhaps it’s unsurprising to some (but not to me) that this Peat Week whiskey looks a lot like an amber beer, sans head of course, once it gets in the glass. It’s almost too light to be called a proper whiskey amber, but not light enough for copper either. The liquid isn’t beer-like, though: coating the glass yields some big, chunky legs.

The nose here is creamy, but also packing two notes in equal measure: charred logs and sage grass (fun fact: did you know another name for sage grass is whiskey grass?). It’s like a campfire in an open field over a cup of fresh milk. The flavor pours on more of that campfire smoke and cream, but now seasoned with cinnamon, a dollop of honey and straw instead of grass. The finish is equally ashy and spicy, and takes its time winding down.

The Price
MSRP on those 590 bottles is $100.