Westland American Single Malt Whiskey Single Cask Pineau
Mike Rosen

World

October 18, 2023

Pineau des Charentes or “Pineau” is a product of the Charentes region of France, home to the town of Cognac. As the story goes, in the late 16th century a winemaker dumped grape juice into what he thought was an empty barrel to be fermented. Instead, the barrel contained some Cognac eaux-de-vie, (which is Cognac that is aged less than two years). A few years later when the barrel was opened, the winemaker loved the new drink and Pineau des Charentes was born. For the longest time, Pineau des Charentes was known only to that region and was mostly reserved for weddings and family events. The industry began to organize itself in 1920 and Pineau obtained the “Appellation d’Origine” (controlled destination of origin) status in 1935. On October 12th, 1945, Pineau des Charentes went one step further by being named an “Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée” wine, a label that guarantees its origin and quality.

Based in the Seattle Washington area since 2010, Westland Distillery specializes in crafting American single malt whiskey. In 2017 Westland was purchased by Remy-Cointreau. At the end of June 2023, Westland’s co-founder and Master Distiller, Matt Hofmann parted ways. Also in June, the six different Westland casks that Jay West picked in May 2022 (for the r/bourbon Reddit single barrel program) were finally released. It was a tough choice but based on Jay’s notes and description, I picked the Pineau des Charentes. Let’s get started!

Selected by: Jay West.

Taken: Neat in a Glencairn glass, rested for about 15 minutes.

Distillery: Westland Distillery, Seattle WA.

Finish type: Pineau des Charentes. Cask No. 6143. Finished for 3 years in a French oak cask.

Proof: 103, cask strength. Non-chilled filtered.

Age: 7 years total.

Mash bill: Five-malt barley.

Malt types : Washington Select Pale Malt, Pale Chocolate Malt, Brown Malt, Munich Malt, and Extra Special Malt.

MSRP: $115.00.

Appearance: Golden caramel.

Nose

First and foremost is mixed berries. If I made a berry compote with blackberries, raspberries, blueberries, and some strawberries, it might resemble this. Then there’s vanilla bean, peaches, prunes, malted milk chocolate, pralines, almonds, sage, wood smoke, and a touch of allspice. At first, the berries are dominant but with more time vanilla bean, plums, dark cherries, and chocolate come forward, which helps the balance and improves the overall profile.

Palate

There is a very creamy mouthfeel with mixed berry compote, malt, plums, subtle wood smoke, vanilla, peaches, chocolate, caramel, and sage. Moderate allspice builds up mid-sip with some very tasty oak. The palate is deliciously similar to the nose but not quite as complex. Mixed berries land first with all the other notes following close behind. This bottle packs a lot of flavor without much heat.

Finish

Allspice lingers with mixed berries, vanilla, malt, and chocolate, with a hint of wood smoke making another round as the allspice fades. Subtle tobacco finishes out the pour with allspice still sticking around until the very end for a medium-long finish.

Conclusion

This is the first Westland I’ve tried and from what I’ve seen, they’re serious about their whiskey and what goes into it, and it shows. No doubt, spending $115 is a considerable chuck of change to spend on a 7-year whiskey. But when you consider the barrel finishing and the amount of expensive high-quality special malts used, the price seems more justified.. For more info than you care to know, check out the Westland Distillery philosophy and specifications page. I’ve never seen a distillery with this much detail and transparency offered up on their website.

I usually prefer wine or sherry-finished Scotch and Irish whiskey to wine-finished bourbon, so I thought I’d like the Westland Pineau too and I wasn’t wrong. It’s delicious. The Pineau finish works incredibly well with the single malt whiskey profile. Even when the Pineau influence was initially dominant, it was still very good. With more time it only got better. Some of these casks (including the Pineau) are still in stock at Seelbach’s in case you’re interested.

Rating: 7.8/10.

1 | Disgusting | So bad I poured it out.
2 | Poor | I wouldn’t consume by choice.
3 | Bad | Multiple flaws.
4 | Sub-par | Not bad, but better exists.
5 | Good | Good, just fine.
6 | Very Good | A cut above.
7 | Great | Well above average.
8 | Excellent | Really quite exceptional.
9 | Incredible | An all time favorite.
10 | Perfect | Perfect.

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