Tasting notes

nose

manuka honey, gardenia and coconut with citrus oil, grounded by cedar and vetiver

palate

darker and richer, with brown sugar, split oak and birch, warming spice, savory vanilla, apricot, fig and leather

finish

long and layered; lemon and lime rind and bright cherry move into tobacco and walnut, ending on bergamot and espresso poured over ice cream

Mash bill

100% malted barley. Milestone is drawn from Westward's oldest stocks of its all-malt whiskey, brewed from barley as an ale and double distilled on pot stills. The grain is the same as in every Westward single malt; what changes in this edition is time and wood, with most of the whiskey given secondary maturation in Hungarian oak and large French oak Armagnac casks.

Why it's craft

Milestone comes from a 21-barrel solera, a system borrowed from winemaking in which whiskey is drawn off each year and new casks are added, so some of Westward's oldest whiskey carries into every edition and no edition can be repeated. Master blender Miles Munroe chose Hungarian oak and Armagnac casks for this fourth release. The base is Westward's own single malt, brewed and double distilled on pot stills in Portland.