Distiller Notes
#5 Whisky Advocate Top 20 of 2022
2020 San Francisco World Spirits Double Gold Medal Winner
Unfettered, upstanding, and uncut, this whiskey reflects the robust flavors built in every step of Westward's long, slow process.
Westward's original single malt, reimagined and offered at cask strength. This whiskey best reflects the skillful finesse of our talented team of brewers-turned-distillers and the beauty of the bounty of the American Northwest. Cask Strength accentuates the rich, locally malted barley, the flavorful beer created in-house with their ale yeast, and the newly charred American Oak barrels matured to perfection in Oregon, the ideal environment to raise a world class whiskey.
Professional Ratings
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Whisky Advocate
Founded in 2004 by Christian Krogstad, a brewer and winemaker turned distiller, Westward is a pioneer of American single malt. Despite a comparatively short history to that of Scotland, whiskeys like this have helped to prove the potential of the category. whose stature in the whiskey world continues to grow. Westward’s signature style takes the sweet, maltdriven base of traditional single malt spirit and matures it in new charred oak barrels, akin to bourbon. Bottled at cask strength, the flavor impression is of warm porridge and honey graham crackers laced with toasty oak, then cigar wrapper and butterscotch on the finish. A satisfying American original.
A popular favorite among emerging niche categories of American Whiskies, American Single Malts now compete with the best from Scotland, Ireland and Japan. American Single Malt Whiskeys must be mashed, distilled and matured at a single distillery and made entirely from malted barley. There are well over one hundred distillers producing a variety of high-quality American Single Malt Whiskeys.