Westland Peated American Single Malt

Uncorking. Nose - smoke, sweet malts, warm banana bread w butter. Taste - sweet, light fruit, honey, sesame oil, light char. It's similar to a islay scotch but enough difference to stand out. Less wood smoke than High West and less peat and more sweet than most Islays. This is a nice balance. Finishes with more peat and smoke, vanilla and oak.

Nose: sweet baking spise and a solid foundation of roasted malt. A subtle addition of smoke near the edges - mostly briny in nature, which almost mixes to a pine tree note with the malt. Palate: more complex and explosive than the nose. Initial heavy iodine, then the baking spice shows with a sprinkling of wood spice than moves into salty brine, before settling into dark roasted malt. Finish: a plesant lingering of roast malt that begins to resemble the chocolate and roasted coco notes from the original Westland malt dram.

There is a sweet pipe tobacco aroma to this one. On the tongue the campfire peat is evident along with a fruity sweetness. Once it sits in the glass for a bit, there is a wonderful milk chocolate flavor.

The nose is peaty yet fruity in an interesting and enticing combo. The flavor is not too strong, in the American Single Malt fashion, but there is a rich, peaty flavor. Dark chocolate is very present and there is definitely tobacco too, but it isn't one of those nose-burning peat spikes. There is plenty of toffee too and the sweetness is really enjoyable. It doesn't have a ton of malty, cereal flavor, but there is some there. There isn't a ton of complexity for a drink of this variety, but there is plenty and the flavors are all really good. It's a bit weak for a Peated whiskey, but what do you expect from an American Single Malt? The trade-off may be that it's super smooth. It's quite sweet, but the peat balances out and gives depth to the weak flavor. It's a very successful balance for an American Single Malt. It does a great job of compensating for the usual American Single Malt weakness shortcoming. It might be a bit sweet for some but I like it. The finish is really nice too. It could use a little more richness and complexity, but its balance is really good as is. The flavor here is pretty mild with plenty of chocolate mixed with a mild dose of tobacco and some fruit. I prefer the punchier and fruitier Westland Peat Week 2017. This is a solid Peated American Single Malt, but the end result is too mild. The balance is very good, but more richness is really crucial here. It's too bad that that is a flaw since the flavor is otherwise very good with a nice marriage showing off the balance yet not hiding the elements that make this a nice drink. I'm happy to have it, but I could use some more oomph. I would definitely sip this, but I would really like to try a more aged version. The clean flavor is very nice though. With a big sip, the spice does come out in a way that asserts the character of this drink, and so do (to a lesser extent) the cherry, almond, and chocolate.

Peated holds up best to ice, and I’d say wakes up with the cold. Color suffers, but that’s about it. Everything else is as it should be, if anything more sweetness shows up than I previously noticed... all’s well that ends well.