Westland Distillery Sherry Oak

Westland Distillery Sherry Oak bottle

70cl, 46% ABV

Westland’s Sherry Wood is a new world approach to an old world idea. For decades, the use of ex-sherry casks for whiskey maturation has been a favoured technique in Scotland and beyond. In marrying sherry’s richness with Westland’s unique grain-forward house style something altogether new is created.

As with the grain sourced, Westland holds their sherry casks to high standards of quality. These casks held some of the world’s finest Pedro Ximénez and Oloroso sherry for nearly a century and in the skilled hands of Rafael Cabello and his team at Tonelería del Sur in Montilla, Spain they have been given new life and purpose. Westland’s long-standing partnership with his family-owned cooperage now provides us with one of the largest supplies of sherry casks in America.

Westland Distillery Sherry Oak bottle

Tasting Notes

Nose

Chocolate raisins, runny honey and leafy herbs – hints of tarragon and mint – orange zest and cinnamon spice. As the whiskey sits in the glass, it develops barley-sugar sweetness, touches of lemon and dark, rich cocoa notes backed up by sultanas, plump raisins and brown sugar.

Palate

Rich and grainy on the palate, with spiced rye bread, sweet dark and milk chocolate, hints of burnt toast ash, rich earth and mossy bark. In the background there’s a rich layer of dark Christmas cake.

Finish

Fruity and long with lingering clove, chocolate and Christmas spice.

Comment

The classic Westland chocolate character is wrapped around a traditionally fruity sherry-cask-matured core. A perfect match.