Me: How did the creation of Milestone begin?
Miles: The seed that started Milestone came from the sales and marketing team 6 years ago. They wanted ideas for a once-a-year, cool luxury release. I said, great! I’d like to do something that focuses on the barrel house and maturation, which is a thing that we don’t talk a lot about in Westward, considering we are a company going on twenty years. We’re one of the OG single malt makers. When we started, we had a lot of inspiration and ideas, but there weren’t really many people doing what we were doing, so let’s also use this as a way to showcase what we’ve learned through constant experimentation and trial.
Me: Can you describe how the solera at Westward works?
Miles: My method of using the solera system is borrowed from sherry production. A lot of sherry producers will fractionally blend their wine. For them, they have all these criaderas that feed into the final solera. They have the outer ones with the youngest sherry, so when they have another harvest and create more wine, they will move the youngest sherry into an older criaderas, and the new sherry replaces that. They all feed down to the very oldest, (which is) the final solera. The idea is that not only is it a great way to blend, but they say, when you put the younger sherry into the final solera, the older sherry teaches the younger sherry to act a certain way, having more of an influence on it. Also, the idea is that the final solera, whether on barrel 20 or 100, has the original sherry, and they never completely empty it. They take a little bit out to bottle and fill it with the next criaderas. Essentially, even if it’s a drop, remnants of the very first sherry are in that solera. You continue to age it and feed it, and that’s what I’m doing with Milestone. I have the outer criaderas, which has our 4 or 5-year-old of our flagship, maybe some rum finish, and a few other things; those feed into the next one, to the next one, and then finally go to the 21-barrel solera. That’s the end of everything. That’s where I’m blending in for each release of each edition. The idea is when we release edition 3 later this year, it will also have (editions) 1 and 2.
Me: What is the age range of the whiskey in the solera?
Miles: The range of whiskeys in the solera is from seven and a half to ten years old. We’re hitting eleven years at this point.
Me: Your criaderas are also being emptied to make room for different finishings that enter the solera for each release, correct?
Miles: Yes, exactly. The last criaderas before going into the final solera is where I can bring in any flavor contribution that I think might guide the next edition. But once it’s in the final solera, it’s all in. That’s the other tricky part. It’s a lot of forward-thinking because I don’t plan on having every release at the same ABV. I also have to be careful because I’m slowly proofing everything. Everything gets a little bit of water, maybe a liter every month, leading up to the final solera, which I keep at a certain point of proof. Then, I plan ahead and think about what will be next because here’s the thing: fractural blending works for sherry because they’re going from harvest to harvest, and it’s a limited amount of what they’re bottling. Whereas fractional blending for whiskey is really impractical and not a very efficient way to do things, which is why I’m only doing it for this limited once a year release. To keep it fairly simple, each year I have a different plan as far as what my target is for a flavor profile, what inspired it, and what’s going to go into it. That guides the final step.
Me: What is the age range of the whiskeys that enter the criaderas?
Miles: When we select casks for this program, at least from our original flagship single malt, at around two and a half to three years, the spirit indicates where it will go. Those are some barrels that are more chocolate-forward and a little more citrus-forward, and others that will showcase more herbaceous and floral notes. It’s all Westward, but I can pick out certain personalities. I’d say the outer criaderas are 4-to-5-year whiskeys, but it takes four more years before it enters the final solera, and what’s great about that is I can blend all of it together. So, I’m doing something else I borrowed from cognac called couping. They take their eau de vie and put it in new casks for a year, then take it all out, blend it all together, give it a large proof down and put it back into the casks. That’s what I’m doing as well; I’m couping those outer criaderas. This helps me for a couple of reasons. I get a better idea of what those outer blends taste like to get closer to the final solera, and it also gives us a chance to proof them slowly, which, if you proof down slowly rather than dumping a bunch of water all at once, it’s a reduction versus a dilution. The water that goes in is aging along with the spirit and experiences the same oxidation and chemical changes. That’s why I think coupling is really an important part of the process.
Me: What’s the process for knowing what your next Milestone profile will be? Do you sample different casks from the criaderas in the same way as a conventional release?
Miles: Absolutely. We create mock blends by taking 60 to 100 ml samples from all the different casks that we would potentially build a blend with, and that’s what we’re doing with the solera. I’ll pull a certain amount that’s like the base we’re working with, which includes Editions 1 and 2 because it’s in the final solera, and I’ll start building my blend from there. I can then see what it’s like with more of these wine casks or if I use different types of wood to build our mock blend. Then, we’ll make sure we get the flavor profile dialed in and make the big blend into the solera.
Me: The final blend also determines what the ABV will be.
Miles: Yeah, exactly. Once we get close to that flavor profile that we’re really enjoying, we say, okay let’s try it at a few different ranges to see where it really likes to be. Then hone in on the exact one because it’s amazing how much it can change. We choose the ABV by where it’s going to shine best.
Me: As I was writing my notes, Milestone 2 didn’t strike me as being very spicy, so I’m curious why this release is called Discovery Of Spice.
Miles: (Laughs) Well, marketing and branding came up with the name, but I don’t think it’s misleading in any way. I was inspired during a trip to Taiwan a couple of years ago. Taiwan is a big market for us, and I was there for a hosted dinner from our distributor. They put together all this great iconic Taiwanese street food and paired each of the dishes with our four core expressions, and it just blew my mind how delicious everything was and how well it brought different notes out in the whiskey. That was my theme and inspiration for the second edition, which was that I wanted to change the spice profile of the whiskey. Not necessarily make it spicey or spiced a certain way, but most American whiskey makers are pretty much sticking to charred new American oak. Those hallmark flavors are baking spice, coconut, and vanilla, and I wanted to sort of shift that typical, almost taken-for-granted American whiskey spice that you get from an oak barrel. So, I was shifting it to more of a savory note. I wanted to bring out a little more cinnamon, even something like incense, jasmine as well, so not necessarily spicey or, like, you know, southeast cooking like peppers, things like that, but more of just shifting that standard barrel profile that we get in most American whiskeys.
Taken: Neat in a Glencairn glass, rested for about 15 minutes.
Distillery: Westward Whiskey
Proof: 97, non-chill filtered.
Age: NAS (7 to 10 years in the 21-barrel solera).
Finishing types in the solera: Stout, Rum, Pinot Noir, Port, Hungarian oak, and Brazilian Amburana wood.
Mash bill: 100% Oregon malted barley.
Price: $249.95.
Appearance: Dark auburn.
Nose
There’s so much going on here that it’s hard to know where to begin. I’ll start with red berries, maraschino cherries, and peaches, followed by savory flavors of malt and stout. Underneath is a layer of tootsie roll, vanilla beans, nutmeg, chocolate-covered raisins, sage, lemon peel, hazelnuts, floral, and cinnamon spice. This complex nose is simultaneously sweet, fruity, and savory, yet all the flavors are perfectly balanced. This nose is incredible.
Palate
With a creamy mouthfeel, the nose matches the palate with malt, stout, red berries, cherries, chocolate-covered raisins, vanilla beans, green tea, toasted oak, and floral. Moderate cinnamon spice enters mid-sip and takes you through the finish. This profile has a unique savory quality that pairs well with the chocolate and fruitier notes. The overall balance of flavors is impressive, considering the number of finished whiskeys used in this release. Yet, none of them are overpowering, allowing the base whiskey to shine through. It’s easy to pick out each flavor, but together, it becomes something unique, varying with each sip that highlights a different character. This also packs so much flavor that it’s easy to forget its proof point until you realize how easy this drinks.
Finish
As the cinnamon spice fades, you’re left with caramel, stout, malt, hazelnuts, sage, leather, berries, chocolate-covered raisins, and lemon peel. As more time passes, the cinnamon spice carries on with chocolate and caramel to the end of this long finish.
Conclusion
It took more than a few sessions to dissect this whiskey, take notes, and wrap my head around it. I loved Milestone 2 from the first pour, but its flavor profile (and price point) made more sense after I understood its inspiration and how it was crafted. Not that it’s necessary to know everything about this whiskey to enjoy it, but it helps. In any case, this is a unique, complex, and delicious whiskey. It’s no surprise that Milestone 2 is a very easy sipper at 97-proof but impressively carries the flavor intensity of a much higher-proof whiskey. What’s also impressive is how the Amburana wood influenced the profile without being obvious. Saying Amburana is not for everyone is an understatement, but I love it in moderation. I asked Miles about it, and he said, “I was aiming for an atypical and somewhat exotic spice profile for Edition 2, and the Amburana was key. I used it as more of a seasoning to the blend, and I think it can easily get very overwhelming.” It’s worth mentioning the rum finish throughout is also subtle, which is more noticeable on the palate, but is so well blended with the Amburana that it keeps you guessing which one you’re tasting.
Milestone 2 is a delicious, complex, and unique release that pushes the boundaries of what’s achievable with an American Single Malt flavor profile. I understand that not everyone is looking to spend $250 on a luxury whiskey, but you can still enjoy most of the Milestone whiskeys featured in Milestone 2 for less than half the price. Milestone Edition 2 will be difficult to find since it has long been sold out, but if this sounds like something you’re interested in, Milestone Edition 3 will be released later this year.
Rating: 9.5/10.
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.
