Review #564 - Westland Sherry Wood
Before it was making its current flagship single malt, Westland had a core range of 3 separate single malts: an American oak version, a Peated version, and this Sherry Wood version. When they discontinued these products a couple of years ago, they took elements of each one and combined them to create the current flagship.
This Sherry Wood version used several cask types, including some new American oak, as well as two types of sherry casks: both Oloroso- and PX-seasoned casks were utilized. While there may be some older whisky in the casks, we have to go by the minimum age statement, which was a standard 3 years across Westland's original core range bottles.
Westland Sherry Wood
USA - Single Malt
Price: USD 73 (2025)
Age Statement: 3 Years
Strength: 46% ABV
Cask Makeup: American oak, Oloroso sherry, and Pedro Ximenez sherry casks
Details: Not chill filtered, no color added
Tasting Methodology: Reviewed 2 times over 17 months; bottles at 70%, and 30% fill levels at times of review. Tasted in a nosing glass each time, rested 15+ minutes
Nose: Syrupy red fruits, quite dark in complexion, and quite sweet - actually, extremely sweet. There is a bit of funky, chalky malt adding a backbone, but most of the scents are along the lines of Luxardo cherry, orange, and cocoa or chocolate. Cinnamon adds a mild spice, caramel adds more sweetness.
Palate: A medium thickness mouthfeel, and the first flavor that hits is strong chocolate - cocoa, chocolate syrup, with little hints of nutmeg and cinnamon spice. Then it's all red and purple fruits like cherry, grape, and strawberry. Again, hiding in the background, there's a soft malty character.
Finish: Rich and sweet, a mix of cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla, and then juicy cherry; it's a medium length finish.
Final Note: A good whisky for dessert - this is extremely sweet, one of the sweeter whiskies we've tasted in a while. Syrupy red fruits and chocolate take center stage, while there is still some oak and a bit of malty grain in the background; wood spice and baking spice round out a profile of moderate complexity. Decent American single malt, but lacking a bit of subtlety.
Value here is okay; these original core range bottles were more expensive than the current flagship bottle, but if you enjoy the syrupy sweet fruit profile in the single malt category, this could be a good bottle to seek out.
Our Average Rating: 6.4 / 10
In the current whisky landscape of increasing prices and variable quality, we've added a value rating to our reviews that relates to the score and the available pricing of each whisky. This roughly equates to a 0-10 scale; no reviews so far have exceeded a score of 10, although it is technically possible for the formula to produce a value rating higher than 10 with a high enough score and low enough price.
Value Rating: 6.01
About Us: We're a husband and wife review team living in the Midwest United States. Generally, our reviews and tasting notes will be a compilation of both of our experiences with a whisky over several tasting sessions.
