Peat Week: A Reflection On Years’ Past.

Like many things at Westland, Peat Week was born out of inspiration that came from long-standing tradition. And with this inspiration came the hope, desire, and aspiration to adapt, innovate, and express things a little bit differently.

Peated whiskey was the way of centuries past. And as a single malt distillery, Westland has always looked fondly upon the greats in Scotland and Ireland. And even beyond the north channel region, places like Japan, Taiwan, and India have all produced noteworthy single malt whiskeys. Peat Week, though it has become a popular whiskey release, actually earned its name in the mash house before it ever became a whiskey. For decades, the Balvenie distillery would dedicate a week each year to distilling heavily peated malt, a departure from their usual Speyside recipe. When the year 2017 came around, the Balvenie distillery finally came around to bottling their peat week spirit.

And in the spirit of single malt, a young Westland Distillery decided to turn up the smoke across the globe. With fortitude and determination, we made our whiskeys comprised entirely of peated malt; an unusual endeavor for an American distillery. Almost 12 years ago, Westland’s inaugural peat week release entered the scene. And henceforth a hallmark series was born; eight releases made their mark.

2014 (Jul) Year 1: Cask #283 24 month ex bourbon. Cask #279 New American oak 24 mo.
2015 (Oct) Year 2: Single Cask no. 508
2016 (Oct)Year 3: A vatting of 8 casks, 5 ex-bourbon and 3 new American oak, each aged between 25 and 37 months. 2136 bottles were produced in total
2017 (Oct) Year 4: A vatting of 7 casks, 2 ex bourbon and 5 New American Oak
2019 (Jan) Year 5: A vatting of 5 casks, 2 ex bourbon, 2 ex Westland, 1 New Oak
2020 (Jan) Year 6: Single Cask, French Oak Puncheon
2021 Year 7: Two Single Casks, one ex bourbon and one Rum cask finish
2022: The Grand Finale – 8th annual

And now, after a 4 year hiatus, Peat Week returns this weekend! Two rival peated whiskeys will go up to the ring; the battle between Scottish and American peat.