Westland

Westland Distillery was founded in Seattle, Washington, in 2010 by Emerson Lamb and his family. It set out to make single malt whiskey that reflects the Pacific Northwest rather than copying Scotland. Rémy Cointreau bought the distillery in 2017.

The spirit starts with malted barley, much of it grown in Washington State, and a grist of several malts borrowed from brewing, including roasted and specialty malts. A brewer's yeast and long fermentations add fruitiness before distillation in copper pot stills. Maturation uses a range of casks, including new American oak.

The core range is American Oak, Sherry Wood and Peated. The Outpost Range explores local ingredients: Garryana uses casks made from Quercus garryana, an oak native to the Pacific Northwest; Colere looks at different barley varieties; and Solum uses peat cut from a bog in Washington. Garryana and Colere appear as numbered editions.

Most Westland is bottled by the distillery, including single casks for retailers such as The Whisky Exchange and Master of Malt. Independent bottlers such as Adelphi and Single Cask Nation have also released single casks, which is still unusual for an American distillery.