When you think single malt whiskey, you might first think of something to the tune of tartan kilts, or whiskey the way the Scots make it. But give Seattle native Westland Distillery‘s aged and local whiskey a few swills, allow it the space to round out its appreciating flavors, and pretty soon you’ll be singing the praises of American single malt. Westland has been operating for the past three years in South Park, but their new location in SoDo — complete with a sleek, wood-paneled tasting room that officially opens in three weeks — is not only ostensibly the largest distillery west of the Mississippi, it also makes sipping that whiskey absolutely bitching.
With drinks in tow and catering by City Catering Company, the owners of Westland took The SunBreak through the 13,000 square foot SoDo location and the entire distillation process Tuesday night. Brace yourselves, whiskey lovers, Westland knows brown liquor.
Unlike in Scotland, in America there aren’t specific laws that dictate the regulations of distilling single malt whiskey. (Scottish regulations mean that it must be 100 percent malted barley, distilled in a pot still, and aged 3 years in oaken casks.) However, Westland appears to be adhering exactly to those Scottish regulations of traditional distilling, while giving it a modern American twist by aging in new oak casks — which is how bourbon is aged. From a maturation standpoint, it not only develops differently, it’s totally new world, according to co-founder Emerson Lamb.
Like bourbon, this whiskey has a big, big personality. It’s has all the traditionality of a complex and developing scotch where you get spice and yeast on the first nose; it goes down smooth, but then burns with flavor and lingers on your hard palate as it continues to speak. But the new oak casks make it fully American, and cause you to take a second sniff because what is that? vanilla? orange marmalade?
Head distiller and co-founder Matt Hofmann says that the Brewer’s yeast (fruit-ifying) and the five different types of malted barley they use (Munich, extra special, brown, pale chocolate, and Washington select) bring out the complexity, but the maturation brings out the sweetness. In fact, he says that after about 15 minutes, the notes of waffle cone start to come out.
Flavors are tweaked and raised in a hot, sticky room that could only be described as a Willy Wonka drunken miracle. Two enormous and very pear-shaped copper pots — named Big Red and Baby Blue — sit on either side of a machine called The Spirit Sage, an op board where the distiller gets a chance to practice his “science and art,” according to Lamb. It’s here that they sequester the bad scents (which are then sold as cleaning agents) through the pots that come from the last manufacturers of large copper pot stills in the world, Vendome Copper and Brass Works Inc., from Louisville, KY.
Right now, Westland is serving and selling Deacon Seat, their 3-year-old American single malt whiskey made from 100% malted barley, which they will continue to sell alone until they release their flagship label: Westland American Single Malt Whiskey. And, with 90% of their barley hailing from Washington, it’s local too. “We wanted to do this in a place that was 55 degrees and raining,” Lamb says.
Westland is giving out tours and tastes until Oct 27 by reservation, and everything else you need to know can be found on their website.
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