WESTWARD PX SHERRY CASK
Exclusive Club Release (February 2026)MASH BILL – 100% malted barley
PROOF – 100
AGE – 5 years + 20 additional months in used PX sherry casks = 6 years 8 months
DISTILLERY – Westward Whiskey Co.
PRICE – $108
WORTH BUYING? – Absolutely
I’ll cut to the chase. I think this stuff is great.
I’ve written about Westward quite often here on the blog, so I won’t get into backstory again. Let’s just dive right into a glass of this recent release from the Westward Whiskey Club, their first ever to be finished in Spanish PX sherry casks.
Here we are, nine days after uncorking and three pours into the bottle. These brief notes were taken using a traditional Glencairn.
COLOR – deep russet reds and oranges
NOSE – rich, with fruity and nutty barley, blackberries, dark cherries, baked red plums, whole cream, fresh baked bread, ground black pepper
TASTE – a creamy texture, the barley notes nuttier here, with even darker fruit notes, a syrupy chocolate note, and robust oak spice with mild bitter tannins
FINISH – a light peppery tingle from the ABV, with lingering red fruit, thick caramel, oak spice
OVERALL – the familiar Westward profile with the red fruit notes amped up
At an even 100 proof, this whiskey simmers without ever catching fire. The heat compliments the rich flavors well, darkening them while also bringing a tingle of light around the edges.
Something I recall from my interview with Christian Krogstad, founder of Westward, is the specificity of their use of cask finishings. They’ve drawn on a wide variety of casks over the years, from beers to wines to alternate wood varieties. The goal is always to highlight something already found in their single malt’s basic flavor profile. They never want to smother their whiskey with some overpowering influence.
Here it’s the rich fruitiness of the barley and yeast strain that gets pulled forward. Cherries, blackberries, red plums. The fruit notes blend with the oak spice and tannins to conjure red wine and sherry. But the effect is restrained enough to allow the fruits to take the lead over the PX sherry that has encouraged them.
Westward’s club releases always bring an interesting angle to their standard offerings. In addition to cask finishings, they’ll occasionally play with the yeast or the grain, sometimes embracing accidents that yield unexpected results. And they hone in on proof points that bring the most out of the given experiment.
In my conversation with him, Krogstad had a lot to say about hospitality. His whiskeys reflect this. They are very hospitable. They never burn your hair off. They never slap you upside the head with some wildly unexpected flavor. They take the familiar and give it a twist, welcoming us with what we know about Westward and gifting us with some surprise. I dig it.
Cheers!
The Right Spirit 