It began with its Garryana American Single Malt, and now Westland Distillery is expanding its portfolio with the new Outpost Range of American Single Malt Whiskies.
With the launch, the Seattle-based distillery will release three expressions annually: the aforementioned Garryana (this November), Colere American Single Malt (Spring 2021), and Solum American Single Malt (2023). Each whiskey explores a central raw ingredient in single malt whiskey with each name inspired by terroir.
“We’ve been working on these projects, exploring the Pacific Northwest and its bounty, for years,” says Westland Co-Founder Matt Hofmann. “We’re thrilled to be finally introducing the Outpost Range to the world. With all three of these whiskies we step beyond what is known in single malt to pursue new possibilities. What we’re finding is beyond exciting and these whiskies stand as outposts on the edge of the unknown.”
Garryana (see below), now in its 5th edition, explores Westland’s native species of Pacific Northwest oak in single malt whiskey. In addition to expressing provenance in whiskey, Garryana is an entirely new species of oak to the world of whiskey, where only a handful of oak species over the course of hundreds of years have been used for aging. To create this whiskey, Westland built an entire economy for sourcing this rare and protected raw material.
Colere (see below), from a Latin verb meaning “to cultivate,” represents leaving behind the traditional grains and venturing into uncharted barley varietals. According to Westland, this expression represents a reconnection to agriculture for the whiskey industry. Westland has worked for years with Washington State University’s Bread Lab, local maltsters and local farmers to develop new varieties of barley. Westland’s work with these partners prioritize flavor in breeding barley varieties and more sustainable agricultural methods. To date, they have distilled over 18 different varieties of barley (which is more than the entire Scotch whisky industry combined), and has committed nearly 40% of their annual production to these unique barleys.
Latin for “soil,” Solum (see at top) explores local peat in whiskey. Peated whiskey has long been a tradition in single malt, always relying on peat sourced in the U.K. As longtime fans of peated whiskey, Westland has pursued a vision for locally grown barley malted with locally harvested peat for nearly a decade. Since the supply chain for peated malt has never existed in this country, once again Westland built the economy from the ground up. Westland has been sourcing peat from a bog 90 minutes away from the distillery in Seattle and using it to malt barley in Skagit Valley, allowing them to distill a peated whiskey with true provenance.
Each expression in the Westland Outpost Range will retail for $149.99.
