Whether or not you're familiar with Westward Whiskey, you need to pay attention to their history and their philosophies. This award-winning distillery has been around for 20 years, back when craft distilling wasn't "a thing" and they helped pave the way for the now more than 2200 craft brands in the US. Head distiller Miles Munroe approaches each offering with critical care, always conscious of the footprint that the northwest United States will leave on each bottle.
This single malt whiskey is finished in French Oak Pinot Noir barrels, after first starting off the aging process in American Oak. For finished whiskey enthusiasts, this one is hitting on all cylinders. You start with a cherry pie, sweet tobacco, leather and vanilla. We tasted this neat and allowed it some ample air time, rather than a pop-and-pour method. Suspecting we had something special here, we wanted to give this dark amber offering some time to show itself, and it did! Scorched earth, fig, stone fruits and vanilla were at the forefront with a more herb-like finish, combined with cocoa powder and sweet, savory vanilla pudding.
While we don't know the mash bill or the details of the finishing time in the Pinot barrels, we can tell you that this whiskey really put a smile on our faces. As someone who genuinely loves Pinot Noir from the Pacific Northwest and whiskey, this was a fanstastic marriage. A self-proclaimed "whiskey purist" might not appreciate a finish like this, but they would be remiss. If you aren't familiar with wine finished whiskey, we definitely recommend you try this one out. It may blow your mind!
