Whiskey Review: Westland Distillery Garryana Edition 6

tic profile and tannin levels that demand years of air seasoning to soften. It is a very assertive species of oak, in other words, and imparts very bold and complex flavors. The Garryana Native Oak Series from Westland Distillery is a very limited production run. Due to its bold and assertive nature and the rareness of the barrels, Westland Distillery has been blending Garryana oak finishes with other cask finishes. In this 6th edition, Garryana finished barrels “comingle with both Brandy and Sherry casks. The Brandy gives a bright filter to the savory spice of Garry Oak. The Pedro Ximénez, its classic darker fruits with muted sweetness. Both add something distinct while leaving enough space for the Garry Oak to shine,” according to the Westland Distillery website. Westland Distillery, true to their Pacific Northwest roots, has been a good steward for Garryana oak. Not only they are replanting new saplings, but they are only using “naturally fallen or ‘hazard’ oak” for their barrels. Master Distiller Matt Hofmann says that they are also reusing every barrel. Edition 5, the previous release, was similar to their Edition 1 release in that it used a very high percentage of virgin Garryana oak finished whiskey. Edition 6 is not a lightweight either in that sense. It uses more virgin Garryana oak than Edition 4, but supplements it with various brandy and PX cask finishes. It has a darker color than the standard Westland Single Malt. It is matured for 41 months (Batch 5 was 45 months) and interestingly, uses the 700ml bottle for this edition. Garryana American Single Malt 2021 (image via Westland) Tasting Notes: Westland Garryana Edition 6 Vital Stats: 50% ABV, 100 proof. Distilled from Washington select pale malt, Munich malt, extra special malt, pale chocolate malt, and brown malt. Cask Types: 2nd Fill Ex-Pedro Ximénez Butt (65%), Virgin Quercus garryana (25%), 1st Fill Ex-Calvados (5%), 1st Fill Ex-American Grape Brandy (2%), 1st Fill Ex-Washington Apple Brandy (3%). Kudos to Westland Distillery for providing the actual percentages of each cask finish! Maturation time: 41 months. 5,922 total bottles. Non chill filtered. Appearance: Light honey with hints of rose tint. Nose: Aromas of dried raisins, mild strawberry jam, sherry, and stone fruit (makes me think of apple pie with a tiny hint of cinnamon). It’s extremely pleasant, I can nose this for hours.