For #ASMWAdvent2023 Day 13.

Literally while I was in the back yard fawning over and photographing the Clear Creek Apple Brandy 15 Year in late November, another delicious package arrived: Westward’s quarterly club bottle, hot off the presses! I opened and poured this almost right away and had notes written by Dec. 3, but somehow stalled out simply on waiting to put a rating on it. I think I didn’t trust how high I wanted to put it and wanted to taste it a second time before locking that in.

Westward’s special releases mostly come in the form of their Westward Club Quarterly Releases. On the one hand, through the Club, you instantly get access to the quarterly special release, which I’m super stoked for, most of the time. Because Westward has a cohort of people regularly placing orders on a schedule, they have an economy of scale and predictability which allows them to ship for free.

On the other hand — and I have a grudging respect for Westward here, a business acting like a business and doing it well — the Club subscription format (free, except the cost of the bottles) creates lock-in through a combination of “well I’m already subscribed”, it being just difficult enough to cancel your automatic order for the quarterly bottle (reminds me of canceling single weeks of Blue Apron), and you end up with a FOMO feeling when you consider doing so.

That said, I’ve rarely been disappointed with the quarterly bottles. The side effect is that I look like a super-fan of Westward because I have nearly a dozen different bottlings from them now! (Maybe I am I super-fan.) And that list only includes one, the Pinot Cask, of the 4 bottlings in the standard lineup (Standard, Pinot Cask, Stout Cask, and Cask Strength).

All that aside let’s get back to talking about this Westward Cognac Cask Finished release.

Distillery: Westward

Bottler: Westward

Region/Style: American Single Malt Whiskey (Oregon)

Mashbill: 100% two-row malted barley.

ABV: 45%

Age: 4 years — 3.5 years primary aging, 1 year secondary aging. My understanding is that for the past few years, in American whiskey, according to the TTB, the total time of maturation between primary and secondary or finishing casks can be counted as the age, hence, 4 years.

Cask type: New oak (probably #2 or #3 char per typical Westward casking), finished in 40-year-old ex-Cognac casks (40 years old, according to the card; the bottle says the casks held 30 year old XO cognac — so either one is a typo or the casks were used for 10 years before the 30 years of XO cognac).

Price: $99.95 Westward Club Quarterly Release

Color: 0.9 amontillado | NCA No Color Added

Nose: As soon as I opened the bottle I got an immediate whiff of the cognac influence, which is strong here, in a good way. This persists after resting in the glass. A rich, perfumed, grape must and old wood, a bit of that French oak perfume. It’s sticky in the nose in a great way. Candied, nutty. Floral honey, candied walnuts, pistachio paste, cinnamon. Just a touch of raw dough, a bit like the note in an Irish single pot still whiskey. A hint of decaying leaves. Unfiltered apple cider just beginning to ferment. From a distance, home-made cigar box: dry craft wood and faint tobacco.

Palate: Beautifully balanced. Perfect proof for this expression. Dense flavors, not hot. Mouthfeel is luscious, velvety. Tongue coating, oily. Delightful to roll around. Dark apple cider. Marzipan, but with a hint of toasted walnuts. Toasted almond cookies. Turkish Delight. Honeydew melon.

Finish: Long. A little pleasant prickle of heat and gently warming. More marzipan. Walnut praline. Vanilla. The Westward beery note finally appears here in the finish, with just a hint of that hops/dank aftertaste. Honeydew aftertaste continues.

Conclusion: Something about this evokes a mental image of beautiful golden-colored things, from beginning to end, with some flashes of green fresh sweetness. Leaves turning orange. Walnut praline. Baklava. Because it’s a cognac cask this is a whiskey finished in well-used French oak. If Maker’s 46 and Clear Creek Apple Brandy 15 are any indication, I think it’s fair to say I really like a bit of French oak in my spirits. This whiskey is overall composed of sweet flavors without ever being too sweet, and has plenty of complexity and a wonderful mouthfeel. Drinking this is truly a pleasurable experience, and the glass is empty far too soon.

Buy a bottle? 4/5 – Yes! Happy to own a whole bottle! This is one of the best values I’ve gotten out of the Westward quarterly club releases! A possible criticism is that it is, per usual, 45% ABV instead of Cask Strength, but it wears it well.

Final Score: 89/100 – Excellent, a standout dram.

(DemiTastes Review #94, ASMW #45.)

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Scoring Legend:

• 95-100: As good as it gets. Jaw-dropping, eye-widening, unforgettable whisky.
• 90-94: Sublime, a personal favorite in its category.
• 85-89: Excellent, a standout dram.
• 80-84: Quite good. Quality stuff.
• 75-79: Decent whisky worth tasting.
• 70-74: Meh. It’s definitely drinkable, but it can do better.
• 60-69: Not so good. I might not turn down a glass if I needed a drink.
• 50-59: Save it for mixing.
• 0-49: Blech.