Our Rating System
87
Overall Score
87
Nose
89
Palate
84
Finish
February 18th, 2024
@ Home / Portland, OR
David Zumini

Westward Whiskey Milestone

First Edition

Distillery

Westward

Type

American

Age

NAS

Strength

43%

Cask Type

-

Edition

First Edition

Cask No.

-

Price Paid

$250 / bottle

Tasting Notes

Perhaps it's not fair for my first Westward entry on the site to be the Milestone. I'm a fan of what they're doing and have a backlog of whiskies that I quite enjoy to add here, but this dram is on another level. It's complex, yet well-balanced. It's sweet, but not overly so. And it goes down oh-so-smooth. It's a whiskey well-worth savoring, but one that manages to disappear from the glass a little too easily.

The only real strike against this whiskey is the price. It's not that the value isn't there - I'd argue it could stand up quite well against others in its category that fall in the same price range. But at $250 for the bottle, I suspect most whiskey drinkers would opt for picking up several bottles of something else over one of these.

In any case, this is an excellent whiskey. And as the first of an annual series under a solera system, I'm very curious to see how it evolves.

Appearance

Color

Clarity

Clear
Hazy
Opaque

Legs

Slow
Medium
Fast

Nose

I'm initially hit with a bouquet of fruits and honey. More time reveals sweet oak and an almond nuttiness. There's a lot to discover here, but it's well-balanced. I could enjoy just nosing this one for quite some time.

Cereal

-

Fruit

Apple
Apricot
Citrus
Plum

Organic

-

Spice

-

Wood

Oak

Other

Almond
Honey

Palate

As with the nose, there's a lot going on here. My first sip was all raisin and plum, with some cinnamon and clove spice following. Sipping on it more, a rich and creamy butterscotch coats the tongue, with a hint of saltiness and dark chocolate coming through.

Sweetness

Dry
Semi-Dry
Medium
Semi-Sweet
Sweet

Mouthfeel

Smooth
Medium
Harsh

Flavor

Light
Medium
Rich

Cereal

-

Fruit

Passionfruit
Plum
Raisin

Organic

-

Spice

Cinnamon
Clove

Wood

-

Other

Butterscotch
Chocolate
Salt

Finish

Raisin and other dried fruits, followed by brown sugar sweetness and lingering vanilla. I'm left with a hint of malt and an almost bread-like note (sourdough?) that I tend to noticed with many of Westward's releases. It's more mellow here, but the overall finish does linger more than I'd expect from the proof.

Cereal

Malt
Sourdough

Fruit

Dried Fruit
Raisin

Organic

-

Spice

-

Wood

-

Other

Brown Sugar
Vanilla

Empty Glass

Subtle butterscotch sweetness, raisin, and clove.