One of the fastest growing segments of American whiskey is perhaps not what you'd think. Spirits made predominantly from corn (see: Bourbon) or rye, typically using some of both, is always how it's been done here as long as we've been distilling. But suddenly quite a few distillers are making single malts, the style that's most associated with Scotland. This means the grain used for making the spirit is 100% malted barley and, hopefully unsurprisingly, this results in a different flavor profile.
Thus far I've resisted trying the American single malts. Part of this is that I mostly now drink Bourbons and American Ryes and have been less interested in malt whiskey. Part of this is that when I do want malt, there are plenty of Scotches I already like (and own). But with the American single malts continuing to grow in popularity, I see more and more options on the shelves and hear about them from places like Whiskey Advocate, I've finally grown curious enough to give one a try.
I picked up a bottle of Westland American single malt and, instead of simply writing that one up alone, we're going to compare it to two others. Not only are comps fun, and something I'm enjoying doing more than writing up individual bottles, but I have some real familiarity with single malts. And some favorites. One of the bottles we'll be comparing with is the Glenmorangie Original 10 year, a Highland single malt Scotch. It's long been my go-to recommendation for a starter single malt Scotch (see recs post). The other is an Irish single malt, Knappogue Castle 12 year. All are in the realm of $50, nothing too fancy here, though the Westland is a little more than the others. Altogether we'll be exploring three countries' attempts at the same style and it should be an interesting and revealing experiment. My wife, as is typical, and a visiting friend, which is not, contributed to the following thoughts.
Stats:
Glenmorangie 'Original' 10y - older packaging
(this expression has undergone changes recently, it's a 12 year these days)
(for writeup on a different expression, see 'A Tale of Cake')
Distillery - Glenmorangie Distillery (LVMH), Tain, Scotland
ABV - 43% (86 proof)
Mash - 100% malted barley
Maturation - ex-Bourbon barrels
Age - 10 years
Price - $40-45
Note - Twice distilled through the 'tallest stills in Scotland'
Distillery - Midleton Distillery (Irish Distillers/Pernod Ricard), County Cork, Ireland
ABV - 43% (86 proof)
Mash - 100% malted barley
Maturation - ex-Bourbon barrels
Age - 12 years
Price - $45-50
Note - Triple distilled through copper stills, as is typical in Ireland
Distillery - Westland Distillery (Remy Cointreau), Seattle, WA
ABV - 46% (92 proof)
Mash - 100% malted barley
Maturation - air dried, freshly charred American oak barrels
Age - NAS
Price - $55-60
Note - Twice distilled through copper stills, like done in Scotland
Thoughts:
The Glenmorangie is exactly what I remembered and expected. It's malt forward with delicate citrus flavors, nicely, not overly, complex and the right amount of smooth. A classic, and a downright bargain at its price. Though it's been years I still loved this one and it served wonderfully as a baseline, as hoped.
Knappogue Castle looked and smelled a whole lot like the Glenmorangie but suffered from what I think is the main pitfall of Irish whiskey. The claim to fame in Ireland is the smoothness, plain and simple, that comes from distilling three times. In my opinion, however, that also means too much is removed in striving for ease of drinking (I have a similar opinion about Tennessee whiskey and their filtering process). The result is that it ends up a little boring, with a real lack of oomph. In no way is the stuff objectionable but the comparisons did it no favors. It is indeed smooth though.
As for the Westland, I'm still trying to figure out what's going on there. For starters it's significantly darker in color than the others, and it says right on the label no color is added. I believe, at this point, this comes primarily from the fresh char on the new American oak barrels, something you don't usually see done in Scotland (but is always done with Bourbon and other American whiskeys). With the divergent color also came divergent flavor. It still had the malt, certainly, but there's much more burnt (wood? sugar?) in there as well. It's not delicate and citrusy, it's not floral, and altogether this is quite a different beast from single malts I'm familiar with. The best description I think I can give is it's really a mash-up of Scotch and Bourbon, and we all agreed we'd never had anything like it before. It's intriguing to say the least.
In sum I liked the Glenmorangie and the Westland, and could take or leave the Knappogue Castle. The main takeaway is that American single malts, including but I imagine not limited to the one tried here, are not simply a clone of the single malts from Scotland. They're distinctly American and worth exploring. Now I know.
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