Founded in 2010, Westland Distillery (located in SODO [SOuth of DOwntown], a neighborhood in…read moreSeattle's industrial district) is a leader in the American single malt whiskey scene. Its Garryana Edition 8 was ranked #3 in Whiskey Advocate's list of 'Most Exciting Whiskey's of 2023'. My wife and I had a chance to visit SODO on a gorgeous October day, and even though we couldn't take their sold-out distillery tour ($25 per adult), still had a wonderful time sampling their wares and enjoying the educational interaction with their whiskey enthusiasts/employees.
Westland got acquired by Remy-Cointreau [French company; 3rd largest cognac distiller in the world; created as union between Remy-Martin (founded in 1724) and Cointreau (1849)]. It's MO is to use ingredients from the Pacific Northwest (barley, water, peat), and with its similar cool maritime climate, produce Scotch-like whiskeys (only whiskey from Scotland can be called Scotch, though Scotch doesn't have to be ONLY malted barley).
American single malt is now an official US legal classification (since Jan 19, 2025). 'Single' refers to one distillery producing the bottle, and 'Malt' meaning it only uses malted barley as its grain. (The most popular American whiskey is bourbon, mostly made of corn and aged similarly).
BG and Trista were our whiskey guides, both knowledgeable and friendly. The lounge had a variety of seating, designed for easy conversation and sipping. A whiskey flight ($13.60, $10 off with purchase) consists of 4 choices (out of 8 offered), so we shared two flights to get the full effect. Getting nibbling snacks [La Panzanella crackers ($5) with Beecher's cheese curds ($12)] that went well with the whiskeys, was a smart choice.
Flagship (92 proof)
Beer Cast (92)
Wine Cast (92)
Coleve 4 (100)
Garryana 9 (100)
Garryana 7 (100)
7862 (106.6)
Solum 3 (100)
To my pleasant surprise, my wife got really into it, sipping/tasting right along with me. We were able to get 4 (tasting) sips per UK dram. My favorite was the 7862, and my wife's was the Wine Cast (which was Trista's favorite as well). The Flagship is the most popular, and readily available at retail stores. The Solum (8 - 12 ppm) is their peated whiskey, and I couldn't discern the peat (as opposed to something like Laphroaig 10 which has 5 - 10 ppm).
As it usually occurs (and supposed to happen), the really enjoyable experience got me to buy (and pay retail price) some of their product to take home. BG did mention that some of their product was sold in California (similar price but far lower tax), and did find their flagship product in liquor stores in Long Beach (also sold in Amazon Fresh stores). I ended up getting a 700ml of their available single cast program (No 7862), aged 9 years for $99, and a 375ml Flagship ($39.99) for my son-in-law.
We had come right when the lounge opened, so there still wasn't anybody else there when we left about an hour later. I know that American distilleries are having a tougher time in this political climate while our friendly neighbors up North are shunning American spirits. Nice to support, especially when the product and service are this good.
Notes:
-- Taxes for retail sold spirits are very high in WA state. 20.5% sales tax and $3.77 per liter tax.
-- Phenol parts per million (PPM) are used to measure 'peatiness' in whiskey. Peat (partially decayed plant matter) is used as fuel to roast the malted barley.
-- Love the fact that Seattle's climate matches Scotland. When we took a tour of the Nikka distillery in Japan, we learned similar things. It's definitely about it's sense of place (water, type of wood barrel, maturation process). And it was cool that the founders (Nikka, Westland) lived in Scotland to get educated in the process.