As we reported in December, American single malt is now an officially recognized whiskey category. That’s great news for producers that have just started to dip their toes into this unique pool of spirits, but the fact is that many craft distilleries have been at it for decades. One of those is Westward Whiskey, a distillery that has been making American single malt for 20 years. The latest release was finished in stout beer barrels, part of a growing number of whiskeys that are getting this type of secondary maturation.
Many members of the Westward Whiskey team have roots in brewing, and indeed the distillery starts production of every whiskey by brewing an American ale using water, malted barley, and ale yeast. The distiller’s beer, as it’s known at that point, is then double distilled in pot stills and aged in new charred and toasted American oak barrels (the same type that are used for bourbon), before sometimes getting a secondary maturation. The core whiskey in the lineup is not finished, but the Stout Cask expression has been available for almost a decade, a whiskey that has been given a year-long finish in stout casks that are sourced from local breweries.
This new whiskey differs from the core Stout Cask expression in a few ways. According to master blender Miles Munroe, Westward x Fort George Brewery Stout Cask is a “double-stouted” expression. That means that the whiskey was first finished in freshly emptied stout casks, and then some of it was put into Matryoshka Stout barrels from local brewery Fort George. The finishing process, according to the distillery, lasted between 11 months and four years depending on the barrel. The result is a 115-proof whiskey (57.5 percent ABV) that, according to the official tasting notes, has flavors like dark chocolate, blueberries, orange peel, mandarins, toasted walnuts, hazelnuts, and vanilla bean on the palate.
Westward isn’t the only distillery finishing its American single malt in beer casks. Virginia Distillery Co. launched the Brewer’s Coalition series last fall with whiskeys finished in barrels previously used by Goose Island Brewery, Hardywood Park Craft Brewery, and, most recently, Boulevard Brewing Co. Proper Pour Stout Cask. Last year, Westland in Seattle launched a Beer Cask Finish American Single Malt Whiskey that was aged in six different types of beer casks, and a few years ago Colorado distillery Stranahan’s released the Osopher which was finished in Flying Dog Brewery barrels (there are also some distillery exclusives finished in beer casks).
If you want to try this new whiskey from Westward (SRP $100), you have to join the distillery’s Whiskey Club (prices range from $100 to $300 quarterly, depending on your membership). But you can find the core lineup, including the original Stout Cask expression, available to purchase from ReserveBar now.
Authors
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Jonah Flicker