WESTWARD TRINITY OF CASKS
Exclusive Club Release (2025)MASH BILL – 100% malted barley
PROOF – 94
AGE – blend of whiskeys aged 5 to 12 years
DISTILLERY – Westward Whiskey Co.
PRICE – $107
WESTWARD MILESTONE NO.3
2025 releaseMASH BILL – 100% malted barley
PROOF – 108.5
AGE – NAS (solera blend of multiple aged whiskeys)
DISTILLERY – Westward Whiskey Co.
PRICE – $270
I’ve recently wondered if and why I should continue to post about Westward here on the blog. The many variations they produce on their dependable flavor profile seldom wander too far from the core notes. I know basically what to expect from any given Westward release, and I always love it. They’re the single most consistent distillery I’m personally aware of.
I continue to post about them because I want to celebrate that. But there’s also the risk of redundancy. I’ve written so often about Westward, if the taste of a given release doesn’t offer some radical departure, even if it’s great, why repeat myself?
Tasting the two offerings I’m comparing here, I wondered if together they might provide an opportunity to ask that question in practice, and specifically in relation to their age range. They are blended by distinct principles—the Milestone is an ongoing solera blend of twenty-one variously aged casks, annually syphoned from and added to. The Trinity is a one-time blend of just three casks, spanning 5 to 12 years between them. So despite their distinct processes, both offer an experience with multiple generations of distillate brought together.
It’s this generational aspect that piqued my interest. In other areas of life, the blend and collision of generations intrigues me. I’ve always been fascinated, for example, by how a consideration of history can help us to understand the present and to imagine the future. And throughout my life my friends have tended to be either notably older or younger than me. I’ve always valued the intermingling of perspectives shaped by time—both era and duration of time on earth. When someone was born, into what sociopolitical epoch, and how long they’ve lived, all contribute a great deal to their perspectives and worldviews. Generations can confound and inspire one another. So long as we stay curious, we can learn a lot from each other, and maybe accomplish a lot together.
So on a far less grand level, what is the echo of all this in a blend of whiskeys gathered from multiple generations of the same “family” distillate? And how does each blend’s circumstance—i.e. how, and of how many whiskeys, they are blended—impact their collected perspective, their flavor profile?
Here we are, four and a half weeks after uncorking the Trinity and a handful of pours into it, and five days after uncorking the Milestone and three pours into it. These brief notes were taken using traditional Glencairns.
COLOR
TRINITY – pale russet orange, notably drippy in the glass
MILESTONE – medium russet orange, with more viscous drips in the glass
NOSE
TRINITY – bright lemon and grapefruit zest, mocha, creamy caramel, dark vanilla, mixed nuts, whole cream
MILESTONE – mocha, toffee, a fruity dark chocolate, dark stewed prune
TASTE
TRINITY – caramel, orange peel, walnut, dark baking spice
MILESTONE – a thick creamy texture, with mocha, coffee, fruity dark chocolate; a rough prickle from the proof’s heat blends with bitter oak tannin and together risk off-putting
FINISH
TRINITY – gently warming, with coffee, toffee, orange peel, the dark baking spices, cream
MILESTONE – prickly and warm, with the mocha, fruity dark chocolate and prune, a touch of bitter oak tannin
OVERALL
TRINITY – citric, fruity, and chocolatey in a mocha way
MILESTONE – a fruity dark chocolate of a single malt
WORTH BUYING?
TRINITY – Yes
MILESTONE – I’m on the fence, leaning toward No…
When comparing two whiskeys, the question as to which I prefer is nearly irresistible. Despite that not being the point of this comparison, my mind goes there quickly. And I’m very aware it’s the price difference between these two Westward outings that takes me there. I’ve never been able to assess whiskey experiences “price aside.” As a teacher and theater artist, I can’t afford such a notion. Price is a reality. I pay it. It weighs on my experience.
And so although I really enjoy both these whiskeys, the fact that the Milestone costs two and a half times the Trinity leaves me feeling—when comparing them—that the Milestone is not worth it. Tasting them separately on their own merits, maybe I’d feel differently?
To be sure, Milestone No.3 is an incredible American single malt. That deep fruity dark chocolate core paired with the thick, creamy texture is absolutely luxurious. The substantial proof pushes the flavors forward nicely without going too hot, adding complexity to the finish with that edgy oak tannin. That edginess does tiptoe toward going too far for me. But this is still an exceptional whiskey. Is the experience over twice as good as the Trinity?
For its part, the Trinity offers a brighter variation. The fruit notes lean citric rather than stone fruit. The dark chocolate is lightened by luscious cream. The Trinity’s lower proof allows the oak tannins to draw a subtler line under the experience, offering a gentler and actually more balanced finish.
So to the consumer question, I say go for Westward’s club releases and save yourself some money. At $100 a pop, they aren’t cheap either. But they’re not $250—some portion of which is wasted on a bespoke bottle and cork and a fancy box. The presentation is very nice. But presentation doesn’t taste like anything. I’d rather pay less, pour Milestone from the standard Westward bottle, and skip the box entirely so as not to have participated in making more trash.
As for the generational question, clearly that got swept away entirely by economics! I trust the cloud of the economics involved will disipate with time, as I move beyond this formal tasting and settle into the simple enjoyment of these whiskeys.
What I appreciate about them both is the richness they offer. They are clearly family. My armchair guess would be that the Milestone contains much older whiskeys, given it comes across so much darker and with greater complexity overall. The comparative brightness of the Trinity may likewise come from its younger components.
But these differences could very well have less to do with age and be more a result of the processes by which the two whiskeys were blended. As a solera blend, the Milestone is like a family that’s spent a lot of time together, their individual generational quirks blurred into one rich familial character. The Trinity, on the other hand, being a blend of only three barrels that haven’t spent as much time getting to know one another, are more like three cousins from varying generations brought together, clicking instantly by familial instinct but less deeply integrated into one another’s lives and personalities.
In short, two excellent offerings from Westward. I don’t see myself following the annual Milestone releases in perpetuity, given the cost. But I do expect to continue sampling from the many variations offered by the club releases. Whatever the Westward, it’s going to be good.
Cheers!
The Right Spirit 