Tasting notes

nose

clover honey, butterscotch and orange zest over bright malt, with a herbal edge and a dusting of raw sugar

palate

white peach and tropical fruit, coconut, caramel and stone fruit on a sweet, grainy base

finish

moderate to long; tangerine and molasses give way to brown sugar, peach and a waffle-cone note, closing on white pepper

Mash bill

100% malted barley. The wash is brewed like an ale, with ale yeast and a slow, low-temperature fermentation, before double distillation on pot stills. The tropical sweetness in this bottling comes from the finishing casks, which held a cane-to-glass Guatemalan rum, not from any change to the grain.

Why it's craft

This finish ties Westward to its founder's roots in Guatemala: the casks held Magdalena, a cane-to-glass Guatemalan rum created by the Westward team. The malt itself is brewed, double distilled and aged in new American oak at the Portland distillery, and the rum cask lays tropical fruit and cane sweetness over it. Thomas Mooney stayed on as chief executive when a group of the company's original investors bought it out of bankruptcy in 2025, keeping it independent.