New Arrival of the Week: Westland Cask 6205 7 yo single malt (Master of Malt exclusive)

We’ve got a Master of Malt exclusive for you this week. A single cask single malt from America with an unusual finish. It’s Westland Cask 6205! But before we look at it in more detail, let’s talk about the brand leading the American single malt whisky category.

Say the word ‘Seattle’ to people and they will probably think of Nirvana, Frasier or coffee but for us, we immediately reply ‘Westland’! This small American whiskey distillery is unusual in that from the beginning in 2010, the founders Matt Hofmann and Emerson Lamb decided to concentrate on single malt whisky. In the past 13 years, they’ve become rather good at it. You might even call them the masters of malt. Arrff arrff!

I’ve got five on it

Westland brings a brewer’s approach to distillation. The base consists of five different types of malt: Washington Select pale malt, Munich malt, extra special malt, pale chocolate malt, and brown malt in varying proportions. But this particular batch of five malt spirit was run just after the distillery had made a batch of peated spirit, so it picked up a gentle but pronounced waft of smoke. 

It then spent around four years in Cooper’s Select casks (new American oak with a light toast and heavy char)before a nearly three-year finishing period in French oak Jurançon casks. Jurançon is a sweet wine from South West France, famous for its high acidity marmalade tang. Here it works brilliantly with the sweet, toasty Westland flavour profile. This release is the product of one particular cask which was bottled at 53%. Only 194 bottles are available. 

Tasting Westland Cask 6205 Single Malt 

Nose: Faint bonfire notes with cooked apple, black cherry, dried fruits and candied almonds with an aromatic menthol edge. 

Palate: Toasted marshmallow, Seville marmalade, Earl Grey tea, dried fruit and peaches with leathery tannins leading to allspice and clove.

Finish: Long and spicy with a fresh citrus lift. 

Westland Cask 6205 7 yo single malt (Master of Malt Exclusive) is available only from Master of Malt. Click on links for prices and to buy. 

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