Westland releases ninth Garryana Edition

A cornerstone of Westland’s Outpost range, American single malt Garryana is aged in rare oak native to the Pacific Northwest as well as Sherry barrels.

Seattle’s Westland Distillery has announced the latest release of its Garryana American single malt, which showcases the provenance of the Pacific Northwest through the use of quercus garryana, a rare and indigenous oak.

Building upon the eighth edition, this year’s release explores the spice-driven character of the Garryana casks, balanced with Spanish Sherry, using oloroso casks for the first time in contrast with Pedro Ximénez (PX) casks used in past versions.

“Garryana Edition 9 contrasts and comments on its predecessor,” master blender Shane Armstrong said.

“Full-term oloroso butts were used and draw an entirely different portrait than the PX of past versions. The dry and oxidised style of oloroso shows up in a nuanced savoury aspect, providing an accentuating conduit for garry oak’s direct current. This combination is a first for us and based on how this shaped up – it won’t be the last.”

Garryana Edition 9 is bottled at 50% ABV and priced at US$150. On the nose, the whiskey shows burnt marshmallows, biscuit, mocha and almond cream while the palate brings ground clove, cinnamon stick, and bread pudding. There are 6,600 bottles available first at the distillery on 11 November and then nationwide beginning 15 November.

The whiskies used were aged for a minimum of five years, and were made with Washington select pale malt, Munich malt, extra special malt, pale chocolate malt and brown malt. The cask treatment included virgin garryanna oak, first fill ex-Bourbon casks, and first fill ex-oloroso butts.

In August, Westland added a pair of cask-finished whiskies using beer and wine casks. As a founding member of the American Single Malt Whiskey Commission, Westland is committed to the style, and is among those in the category pushing for final ratification from the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) that established official guidelines for it. Westland says it expects an announcement this autumn, but it has been over two years since the commenting period ended.