Review by: DemiTastes
For #ASMWAdvent2023 Day 2.
This release was a Single Barrel Selection, an Exclusive Release to Westward Club members. I wasn’t a club member when it was released and by the time I joined, this was sold out.
For that reason, during my visit to Westward in 2022, I had specifically requested ahead of time wanting to taste and discuss this expression. I love a good stout, and I’ve been known to enjoy a good stout-finished whiskey, inluding Westward’s standard line Stout Cask. But this here is a whiskey distilled from a stout! How interesting!
For this release, Westward partnered with the local Fort George brewery to brew their Cavatica stout recipe and distill it into an American Single Malt Whiskey — unhopped of course, so that it conforms with the guidelines for American Single Malt Whiskey.
Westward named this as part of their “Two Malts” bottling series, which they have since used to include partially-malted-rye mashbills, but in this case it was a reference to the “malt bill” (recipe of malted barleys) which are given on the info card: “Two-row barley, Munich 20L, Roast Malt, Black Barley”. That looks like 4 malts to me, or maybe I’m reading the card wrong and some of those commas offset quantifiers, but I’m not going to look too closely at a fanciful name. Regardless, the distillery confirmed with me in person that this release conformed with the proposed standard for American Single Malt Whiskey.
A note on the “Two Malts” line: During the tour I took in 2022, another couple that was on the tour asked why “American Single Malt” had to be “Malted Barley” instead of another malted grain and the answer given was something along the lines of “well as a matter of fact, we also have a Two Malts series” (of which both malts are malted barley, so I’m confused how that answers the question). Obviously, in 2022 we were still trying to figure out how best to message what American Single Malt Whiskey is, especially to people who aren’t all that familiar with Scotch, especially when the national pride behind American Whiskey for American Whiskey Drinkers is at stake, such that “it’s like Scotch Single Malt Whisky” isn’t really the best possible answer for all crowds. I personally think that the “Two Malts” line is fine when you look at it from a “we’re experimenting” perspective, but runs the risk of muddying the waters when an ASMW distillery (and all the other ASMW distilleries) are trying to educate people about ASMW.
All that said, this was back in 2022, and when I visited again in 2023, Westward definitely had a much better message around the “Two Malts” bottling series which at that time included a pair of bottlings with mashbills comprised of both malted barley and malted rye.
The labeling on this one was a bit confusing as to what the name should canonically be. I guess depending on whether you read the card or the bottle “Westward American Two Malts x Fort George Brewery Cavatica Stout Founders Club Exclusive Release” or “Westward American Two Malts Whiskey Single Barrel Selection Cavatica Stout Fort George Brewery Exclusive Release Westward Club”. These names get a bit onerous when you tack on so many qualifiers. I instead decided to put “Cavatica Stout” first in the title because it’s the clearest distinction of this particular special release, and leave “Fort George” as a detail for the body of the review.
Distillery: Westward
Bottler: Westward
Region/Style: American Single Malt Whiskey (Oregon) / “Two Malts” bottling series, but still an ASMW.
ABV: 45%
Age: 3.5 years
Cask type: New charred oak (#2 char)
Price: Was likely Westward’s standard special release price of $99.95, but it was so limited as a single cask that Westward’s Archive Page doesn’t list it anymore.
Color: 0.7 amber | NCA No Color Added
Hands: cherries, cinnamon, and warm bread
Nose: warm berry jam, bananas foster, brown sugar, beery malt
Palate: juicy, stout-y, dark cherries, Black Forest cake (cherry jam, chocolate, cake, fermented fruit notes), roasted coconut and caramel Samoas (girl scout cookies).
Finish: sassafras, dill, fennel, a little bitter edge, aftertaste of half-sour pickled beets. Caraway, fennel, like a strong rye bread. Rounded out with bitter and acidic notes of torched yuzu peel and bitter lemon zest.
Conclusion: This one frankly blew my mind a little bit. I have a tendency to love ASMW finished in barrels that held dark and heavy beers, but to have an ASMW brewed like a stout is just combining two of my favorite things at a deeper level. It was super delicious, sweet but balanced, and ran the gamut of so many treats and flavor sensations for me. Truly a delight. I was just pleased to get to try this expression and take tasting notes on it even though I’d likely never get to have it again. Thanks Westward for that opportunity!
Buy a bottle? 5/5 value – absolutely! This one blew me away, head and shoulders above the standard line Westwards.
Final Score: 90/100. Excellent!
(DemiTastes Review #83, ASMW #34.)
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Scoring Legend:
- 95-100: As good as it gets. Jaw-dropping, eye-widening, unforgettable whisky.
- 90-94: Sublime, a personal favorite in its category.
- 85-89: Excellent, a standout dram.
- 80-84: Quite good. Quality stuff.
- 75-79: Decent whisky worth tasting.
- 70-74: Meh. It’s definitely drinkable, but it can do better.
- 60-69: Not so good. I might not turn down a glass if I needed a drink.
- 50-59: Save it for mixing.
- 0-49: Blech.
Malt Runners 
