October 2, 2025 • 26 mins
Whiskey heists, billion-dollar gaming buyouts, and a rare single malt review? This week’s episode of the Bourbon Bytes Podcast covers it all. Clifton dives into the jaw-dropping $1 million Westland Distillery heist, breaks down the shocking $55B buyout of Electronic Arts, and closes things out with a Byte-Sized Review of Single Cask Nation’s Westland American Single Malt. It’s whiskey news, gaming drama, and one of the fruitiest American single malts I’ve ever tasted. Cheers, and Game On! 🥃🎮
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Today on the Bourbon Bytes Podcast, we have two breaking news stories from the world of whiskey
and video games, including a 55 billion dollar buyout of one of the largest video game companies
in the world and an American whiskey heist that's one for the history books. Plus,
I'm reviewing a Single Cask Nation pick of Westland's Single Malt American Whiskey.
(00:32):
Hello everyone and welcome to the Bourbon Bytes podcast. I'm your host Clifton and
welcome to the week of Thursday, October 2nd, 2025. It is now officially spooky season,
so we're going to have a lot of fun, scary whiskeys in store for this month.
But this week, I think there were two major news stories that I wanted to address before we get
(00:55):
into the silliness and the craziness of October. Now, I'm sure I'm not going to be the first one
to tell you about at least one of these. If you listen to any other bourbon or whiskey related
news, whether it's a podcast or a blog that you read, I'm sure you've likely heard the headline
of today, which of course is the heist at Westland. So I saw this all over my feed,
(01:19):
even on places that I didn't expect to see any whiskey news. It was showing up there
because this is a first of its kind. Well, not first of its kind, but one of the largest of
its kind, especially here in the United States. But I do want to talk about some video game news
that's just as big, if not bigger than this story before I get into that, because I have
(01:40):
a Byte-Sized review that I want to do along with that story of Westland. But the other biggest
story that hit all of my feeds this week was the announcement that EA or Electronic Arts was being
acquired for 55 billion dollars. So they were a publicly traded company, but they are now going
private and they're being acquired by PIF, which is the Public Investment Fund in Saudi Arabia,
(02:05):
along with Silverlake and Affinity Partners. And this is massive news in the world of gaming.
If you don't know EA or Electronic Arts or EA Sports, they own a plethora of some of the
best selling games in the world right now. The one that hits home the most for me is The Sims
franchise. I actually have been playing a lot of Sims 4 lately, kind of re-found interest in that
(02:30):
last week or so, and bought a couple new expansion packs to test out over the weekend. And yeah, I've
just been really enjoying those games. But that franchise is included in this buyout. Now, not
only that, EA is also known for their other titles like Madden NFL, Apex Legends, Star Wars Jedi Fallen
Order, the FIFA games, Need for Speed, Battlefield, Bejeweled. All of these big games are part of their
(02:56):
portfolio and they are going to be acquired by these firms out of the Middle East. And at first,
I was kind of confused of why they would be interested in it, but it seems that Saudi Arabia
specifically has been trying to build out their entertainment and gaming industry. They feel like
those are areas that they've kind of been a bit underdeveloped in with their economy, so they're
(03:19):
really trying to branch out and invest. And I will say this is probably one of the biggest deals I've
ever seen. 55 billion dollars is what they're valuing Electronic Arts at, which is crazy. Now, I won't
pretend to be, you know, super in the weeds on the financial aspects of it all, but I do have concerns
as a gamer. Now, of course, their argument for this move is to accelerate their strategic vision
(03:41):
to advance the future of entertainment. That's what EA says in their press release. Now, the good
thing is they're going to continue to be headquartered here in the U.S. Their CEO is going to stay in place,
but this company that previously owned just 9.9 percent stake in EA now owns 100 percent of it.
Now, it seems like this was good news for shareholders. It boosted the stock a bit. They're
(04:03):
now going to give those stockholders 210 dollars per share in cash. Now, this is monumental because
this is the largest all cash sponsor take private investment in history. The press release said that
the board carefully evaluated this opportunity and concluded it delivers compelling value for
stockholders and is the best interest of all stakeholders. That's coming from their independent
(04:25):
board of EA directors. Now, there's also a few other quotes here as to why they picked PIF out
of Saudi Arabia. This quote says PIF is uniquely positioned in the global gaming and e-sports
sectors, building and supporting ecosystems that connect fans, developers and IP creators. So again,
they're they're really trying to build up this infrastructure there. And I know with EA, they
(04:49):
you know, they own the FIFA franchise. I know soccer or football, whatever you want to call it,
is is huge in the Middle East, especially Saudi Arabia. So I'm sure they see some potential in
that property alone. And the sports games, you know, I don't I don't really care that much,
honestly. Again, I think they're going to continue to make these games. I don't I don't think they're
(05:09):
going to really change too much other than maybe cutting some costs and hiring a lot of
non-American developers to work on them. But I do worry about some games like I mentioned
The Sims. Listen, not to make this political or anything, but I do know that Saudi Arabia
does have some pretty strict expectations when it comes to gender expression, sexuality,
(05:31):
women's rights, things like that. And I think that The Sims is a world where anyone can be anyone
they want to be. And I've enjoyed that about Sims since I was a kid. I used to play on console with
my little brother and make him have to be the wife while I was the the husband. But as I got older
and I realized that you could actually, you know, really express yourself, not only just the way
(05:55):
your your Sim looked in the career path they took, but even things like, you know, how they express
themselves, whether they want to dress a little more feminine, whether they want to be gay,
where they want to be bi, things like that. I think The Sims has been such an open minded
game that really lets you explore. It doesn't have to be your identity, right? It's it's your
Sims. You aren't attached to your Sims, but it allows players to kind of see different lifestyles
(06:19):
and see different play styles depending on, you know, how you run your game. And that's something
that I've always praised Sims for, even in their marketing. They do show a lot of, you know, same
sex couple, interracial relationships, things like that. But I do have a little bit of fear,
and this could just be me as an American speaking and not fully understanding the cultural
implications of what that means with it being 100% owned by a Saudi Arabian company. But I can't
(06:44):
help to be a bit concerned that they may take some of their religious and political ideologies
and use it as a form of censorship in the game. And I think if that were to happen, I think the
Sims community is outspoken enough that they would either, one, not let that happen, or two,
do a boycott of the game. Because listen, I've played Sims since I was literally a child. It's
(07:06):
one of my favorite franchises. Yes, it has its quirks. Yes, it has its bugs. I also totally get
that they are a microtransaction hellscape. Especially me, I just bought two expansion
packs over the weekend. So I'm fully aware that I've bought the game multiple times. It is a cost
sink for sure. But I will say, if they do start, you know, limiting the freedom of expression that
(07:28):
you see in these games, I think a lot of people are going to be upset and they're going to look
for alternatives. So I could totally be off base and speculation could mean nothing, but I'm not
the only one talking about it. I think with the cultural differences between, you know, the US
and somewhere like the Middle East, I just hope that they realize that they have a global player
base and that censorship shouldn't be tolerated in things like video games, where the whole point is
(07:53):
to, you know, create your own life and your own journey. That would just be a huge step backwards
for progress in video games. I guess you could probably have a similar concern for some of the
military games like Battlefield. I mean, you know, again, I'm not trying to be political here. I'm just
saying, like, if you have a company in the Middle East that owns, you know, the stake in electronic
arts, who's to say that they're going to make the good guys or the bad guys in some of these games?
(08:18):
Like, could that influence it? Again, it's all speculation. I'm sure the sports games will be fine.
But it does make me a bit curious and a bit concerned. But I'll give them the benefit of the
doubt. EA thinks it's their way to advance the future of entertainment, and I hope so. But yeah,
I'll keep an eye on that one. Again, I don't expect anything immediate to change. I think
this is going to roll out over time. They're treating it kind of like we see a lot of companies
(08:43):
that get bought out, like they're saying, you know, oh, nothing's going to change. It's going
to be the same EA that you love. But in my personal experience, that isn't always the case. So I'll
keep an eye on it. I'll see for sure. I'll hopefully see some positive impacts from it. Like I said,
I do want to give them the benefit of the doubt. But I just, you know, I have some shared concerns
with other people in The Sims communities over this buyout. All right. Well, like I said,
(09:08):
we had two big news stories. The next one is, of course, the Westland Heist. Now, once I give you
the news, I'm going to review actually a product from the Westland Distillery that I've not reviewed
here on the podcast yet. So I'm really excited to get into that. But let me tell you what's going
on in Washington, because this is, like I said, major headlines. An estimated one million dollars
(09:30):
worth of whiskey was stolen from Westland Distillery. Now, if you know Westland, they're
famous for their single malt whiskey out of Washington state. They partner with a lot of
stores for some single barrel expressions, but they also have a Flagship expression as well.
But approximately 12,000 bottles of craft whiskey was stolen from the distillery back at the end of
(09:51):
July. So they say around 1 p.m. on July 31st, a man in a freight truck pulled up to the Westland
Distillery warehouse in Burlington and showed warehouse workers the appropriate document
required to pick up the whiskey. The 12,000 bottles were then loaded into the freight truck
bound for a warehouse in New Jersey, but they never arrived. So they're suspecting that these
(10:12):
were fraudulent documents that were used to pick up the whiskey. And it was several days before,
you know, any of this was reported, right? It wasn't until August 6th that they filed an incident
report in New Jersey for the missing whiskey. They have not found out who was behind this or where
the whiskey went. Now, this is really unfortunate news, and I don't think I would say that, you know,
if this were maybe some major distillery where 12,000 bottles really is a drop in the bucket
(10:37):
when it comes to their output. But we're talking about Westland here, right? They're a craft
distillery. They do have nationwide distribution, but I mean, really, they are a small business. So
$1 million in revenue lost because of this is a huge deal. And I think the most unfortunate part
of this is 3,000 of those bottles were half of that year's special release of their Garryana
(11:02):
Cask whiskey. It was supposed to be a 10-year anniversary, 10-year-old Garryana Oak American
Single Malt. It was going to be Westland's first 10-year product. And, you know, that's where it
gets emotional to me because, you know, this whiskey isn't something they're just spitting out
every day. It's not like they stole some new make or whatever. They settled on these barrels for 10
years to make this special expression, and their Garryana Cask always do really well. If you're not
(11:25):
familiar, Garryana Oak grows in the Pacific Northwest, so that's probably why they do that
tribute to it. I know a few other brands like Doc Swinson's, which is also based out of Washington,
also do a Garryana Oak, but that's a bourbon. This is an American Single Malt. These were going to
retail for $150 each, which I think is a very fair price for a 10-year-old Single Malt whiskey with
a unique oak cask finishing. And it really, you know, makes folks wonder what's going to happen
(11:50):
to these bottles. Apparently, these kind of heists aren't that uncommon in, like, Scotland.
Apparently, when those happen, a lot of the bottles end up on the secondary market in Russia,
believe it or not, so they make it out of the country entirely. But when it comes to this, I
mean, where are these bottles going to be sold? Are they just going to disappear for a few years,
and then an independent bottler is going to come out with a mysterious 10-year-old Single Malt
(12:14):
Garryana Cask? I don't know. I don't know what happens in these types of situations.
I do know the only thing I can relate it to is some stores will have, like, a lost barrel,
where it's either a single barrel that another store bought, but they forfeited, or something
that's been sitting in the back of a warehouse. I also know, you know, especially with Scotch,
there's a lot of teaspooning done, where they, you know, call it a blended malt, but they just
(12:37):
put a little bit of one additional whiskey in it. That way, they don't have to disclose where the
original's from. I hope that something like that doesn't go down. If it does, I hope it goes through
the legal process, and Westland gets the, you know, the bulk of that income. And listen, I know
our tiered system in the U.S., our three tiers of distribution, is messy. I don't like it.
(13:01):
I like how other countries do it much, much better. I wish you could buy directly from the
distilleries. You don't have to go through a distributor. But unfortunately, that's the way it's
set up. So, this makes it really murky of what's going to happen to these bottles. The fact that
they were already bottled makes it even more interesting. They're not just stealing barrels,
they're stealing bottles of whiskey. So, they're going to have to either re-bottle them, put a new
label on them. Gosh, I don't even know what they could do. And that's not to say, you know, I'm
(13:25):
looking forward to seeing what happens to it, because I do really feel for the distillery,
and I hope they can find them. Honestly, it'd be great if they could just find the truck and bring
it back. That'd be, you know, great news. Whether or not that's going to happen, I don't know. As
long as the whiskey's not been messed with. That's when it gets a little sus, right? Now,
even though, you know, I said like a million dollars is devastating to a small craft distillery,
it seems like Westland is being, you know, pretty optimistic about it, given the circumstances.
(13:49):
They say this is an extremely rare thing, and while it is a setback, they're confident that
they're going to get to share this whiskey, and they're proud to make something people can enjoy.
Right now, they're saying that they're continue to focus on serving their customers, instead of the
investigation. Now, I'm sure now that this has made, you know, national headlines, there might
be more talk about it. So, it's good to see that they're mostly in high spirits. It's just, you
(14:10):
know, like I said, if this were to happen to a bigger distillery, where that's just, you know,
chump change for them, it would be a little more of a fun story, and I'd be a little more
excited about it, but this is, it just hurt my heart a little bit, and I hope they're able to
find those involved, and, you know, make up some of those funds, because while they can't make that
10-year whiskey again, they're gonna have to start from scratch, or, you know, continue aging
(14:31):
bottles for longer than they intended. I'm sure that they will get back on track, and we'll see
a 10-year release, even if we may not be able to get this certain batch of it. Hopefully,
we'll see more 10-year in the near future. So, cheers to those folks. Keep them in your thoughts,
and hopefully that gets solved soon. I will keep an eye on that story if we get any updates
(14:52):
in the coming weeks, but all this drama makes me really thirsty for my 'Byte-Sized Review'.
All right, well, I was looking to see if I had any Westland to accompany the story of the heist,
(15:12):
but the only bottle that I have is actually just a sample bottle, and this is from a Single Cask
Nation 2021 release. This was a single barrel of Westland Single Malt, aged 7 years old,
in Ex-Moscatel barrels, which isn't too crazy for Westland. Honestly, they do a lot of red
wine cask finishes, so it's not that surprising, but I do know that Single Cask Nation does some
(15:38):
incredible barrel selects, so I am beyond excited to give this one a try, and hopefully have a good
impression of Westland. I've only had a couple single barrel picks from stores, and I remember
them being delightful, but I've never had this single-cast nation pick. At least I don't think
I've reviewed it, because a little bit of the sample bottle is missing, so I definitely enjoyed
(16:00):
this one evening. I just don't think I've done a full review of it, so we're going to do it today
on this Byte-Sized review. I'm having to do some digging to get some info on this, just because it
came out, you know, four years ago. Like I said, seven years old. This was distilled back in 2013
and bottled in 2021. The ABV is 52.55%, so that comes out to be about 105.1 proof. They only had
(16:23):
about 266 bottles of this available, and unfortunately, I'm not able to find what the
retail on this release was. All the listings for on their website have been, you know, removed,
unfortunately. So if you happen to see this review, please leave a comment, either on the YouTube
video of it, or just on my Discord server, what the retail on this should be. Because I'm going
(16:45):
to go based off of other Westland Single Cask Nation releases, which they're still doing picks.
So I found an online release from 2024 of a Westland nine-year-old single malt that was
matured in ex-Sauternes casks, and that one's going for about $125. I would probably estimate this
around that same price point, maybe closer to $100 when it came out back in 2021. But again,
(17:08):
I can't find any original listings for this. All I can find is, you know, people leaving their
tasting notes and things like that. And I don't like to read too deeply into those reviews until
I've done my own, just because I don't want to be influenced by their notes. So I would guess between
$100 and $125 retail, just from what I can find online. So let's go and get this sample poured.
As with my sample a couple weeks ago, I don't remember who sent me this. I've had it for a few
(17:30):
years. I need to get better about making a list of who sends samples, and that way I can thank them
properly. But I do know that this was sent to me by one of my Discord members, because I recognize
the handwriting as someone that sends me samples frequently. Like I said the other week, I think
it might be Patrick and Heather Starkey, but like I said, it's been several years. They used to live
in Washington as well, which kind of contributes to that theory, but I could be wrong there as
(17:54):
well. So whoever sent me this, please let me know. I'd love to give you a proper shout out. Let's go
nose this whiskey. Oh yep, that's a single malt. So like I said, my experience with Westland has
been limited. I do know that they've done some exclusive store picks across Southern California
with really unique secondary cask finishing. Those usually come in at cask strength and relatively
(18:16):
high proof. This one being 105.1, I assume it's cask strength as well. But on the nose, that is
such a grain forward nose, I guess I'll say. Now muscatel wine is typically a fortified wine,
although technically it's any wine made from muscat grapes. And on the nose, there is a little
bit of a fresh berry that I think is coming through once you get past the fact that you're
(18:38):
smelling something that is very malt forward. There's a bit of a sweet kind of dessert shop
berry, almost like a fruit tart kind of note. The more I nose it, the less of like actual fruit I'm
getting on this. So, you know, I initially said fruit tart, but to me, this is more of like a
fruit marmalade or like a filling, maybe like a jelly filled doughnut because it's not screaming
(19:00):
fresh fruit. It's definitely has a bit of a condensed and what's it called? Macerated
quality to it, but very sweet. I'm glad I let this open up a bit because when I first nosed it,
like I said, I got all those malt and grain notes, which were a little off putting to me.
Now I do love me some American single malt. I've grown to enjoy it quite a bit over the years,
(19:20):
but sometimes when something reads like that, I interpret it as crafty,
you know, usually a bit young, although this is seven years old, which is pretty incredible,
but I just had to let it open up quite a bit to get some more of those sweet fruit,
dessert notes in terms of the actual fruit. It kind of reminds me, OK, this is it's going to be
like a mix between like a Fig Newton filling, but also a Wild Berry Pop-Tart. Like I don't know
(19:44):
what flavor wild berries supposed to be in a Pop-Tart, but it's kind of like a sweet kind of
blueberry ish kind of strawberry mixture. Actually, I don't know. I need to look up what
wild berry is, but it kind of is reminding me a little bit of that fruit blend for that, but with
a darker, richer quality to it that I think is coming from like the fig notes that I'm getting
on it, which is to be more expected from a fortified wine cask. All right. I really love
(20:07):
the nose on this, and I'm going to go in for a taste. Cheers. Oh, wow. Yeah, that's a really
delightful palate. That proof is is great. I was questioning whether or not it was cask strength
just based on the low number on it, but with the amount of flavor that this is packing, I can tell
for sure that if this isn't cask strength, it's it's a great proof for it to be bottled at.
(20:29):
Again, I'm surrounded by this just overall dessert shop fruitiness. Different in the way that I say
dessert shop when it comes to American whiskey. You know, a lot of times with that I'm thinking
of like pie crust, a little bit of toasted bread. This to me isn't that. It's actually more of the,
you know, like I said, the the fruity filling or maybe the cake filling or cake toppings. It is
(20:50):
mouth coating. It definitely lingers. It almost reminds me, you know, with it being so sweet,
it kind of reminds me as if I were to have a like a lollipop or a sucker, whatever you call them.
But of this particular flavor, like I said, it's like a dark fruit, maybe a bit of grape,
but not like the sour grape, you know, artificial grape that we get in the US.
Maybe it was more of a natural grape, maybe mixed with a bit of like a,
(21:13):
you know, I don't have a raisin flavored raisin flavored lollipop is a thing, but it kind of is
those darker, richer flavors, a little bit of blueberry there as well. Wow. Wasn't expecting
such a fruit bomb out of this. I mean, I was with it being, you know, wine cask finish, but
it's the most dominant flavor here. It's a more refined malt grain note. It is cereal grains.
(21:37):
It's definitely still in that territory, but it's not that kind of sour, tart cereal grain you
sometimes get with a younger single malt, especially American single malt. This one is a bit more of a
dry, almost more like a hay note, which doesn't sound that appetizing by itself. But when you
complement it with all the fruit that I'm getting on the mid palate and even the back end, it really
is a well balanced whiskey finish wise. I would say medium to long. It still lingers with the
(22:02):
fruit, but it goes a bit darker. There's a bit of like a bit of a tannic note there, a little bit
on the end. It kind of reminds you of some way that some bourbons do. It kind of goes a little
bit like leather a bit in the back end. It doesn't stay as bright and fruit forward once you've kind
of swallowed it. It kind of lingers on the back of the tongue, but a little more tannic, a little
bitter. There's a little bit of sulfur on the back end, but it's nothing that's going to overwhelm
(22:24):
your palate. Honestly, I think it complements the overall sweetness of this whiskey. It actually
gives it a little bit more depth, a little bit more lingering feelings, at least when it comes
to the finish. But overall, I mean, Westland is known as being one of the best American single
malts that's out there. That's pretty well known in the whiskey community. You know, they've been
doing it longer than a lot of distilleries, and I love they experiment with these different cask
(22:49):
finishes. I know they have a beer cask one available at Total Wine, but I typically go for
the darker red wines, fortified wine, finished whiskeys. Those are right up there in my palate.
You know, I just bought a Starward Australian single malt whiskey that was finished in
fortified wine casks. That actually was a pick from Les Maisons du Whiskey in Paris,
(23:12):
one of the few bottles I brought back for my Europe trip, and that was fantastic. This is
reminding me a lot of the things I loved about that one. I think that one might have been a
little bit older. I don't remember off offhand. I don't think I did a full review on it. Maybe
I'll do that sometime soon. But this is reminding me of everything I love about that bottle.
And I know I paid about $160-$170 for that one. So I think this is on par with that.
(23:34):
So when it comes to bang for your buck, with this being what I would guess is probably $125,
I think this is an amazing pour and a great buy for my buck. Now, I wish I would have said that
in 2021 and I would have bought a bottle of it. You know, that would have been great.
But yeah, just nothing really bad to say about this whiskey at all. It's well-rounded. That
(23:55):
cask influence from the secondary cask really, really expands on what's already great about
this whiskey. It takes, you know, an exceptional seven-year-old American single malt, rounds it
out, gives it a bit more fruitiness and more full-bodiedness from those muscatel wine casks.
So well done to the folks at Westland for making this and the folks at Single Cask Nation for
(24:18):
picking this, because as with most Single Cask Nation releases, this is an exceptional pick. And
it makes me want to go out and seek out some of their more recent Westland picks that they've
been doing, because like I said, a few more have popped up since then. It's a partnership they
regularly do when it comes to American whiskey. In terms of score, honestly, this one's pretty
(24:39):
hard to fault. With this being such a limited release, I'm sure it's sold out by now. Don't
pay the $500 on secondary for it. Obviously, I don't think it's worth that. But I think for the
price, which again, this is based on it being, you know, $125 or less. Again, it could be more,
which would cause me to revisit this number. But for this being $125, I think this is a nine out
(25:00):
of ten. This is really exceptional whiskey. I think the price is a bit high for a, you know,
seven-year-old single malt. But I think what Westland's doing continues to be innovative in
the world of American single malt whiskey. I mean, unfortunately, with the Garryana 10-year,
we're probably not going to see as much of that as we could have. Would have loved to try that one.
I would love to review it. But yeah, I think their whiskey continues to stand up and surprise
(25:27):
even someone that's a bourbon drinker. I think it's an American single malt that can get you
interested in American single malts. And I've always felt that about Westland. If you see a
bottle of this on the shelf for under $150, grab a bottle. You're not going to regret it,
especially if you're a fan of high-proof American single malts with a cask finish,
or not even American single malts, high-proof single malts with a strong
(25:50):
wine cask finish, because I know I am. All right. Well, that does it for this week's episode of
the Bourbon Bytes podcast. Thank you all for listening in. Let me know your thoughts on the
news stories and the review today. You can leave a message on our Discord server, which everyone is
able to access at bourbonbytes.com. You can also send me an email, contact@bourbonbytes.com or
(26:10):
tag me on social media at bourbonbites. I look forward to all of your comments and messages
after each of these podcast reviews. I know a lot of you go on YouTube and comment on the episode
there. I see it. I respond to it as much as I can. So thank you all so much. I love to hear from you
and let me know what you want me to review next. But until next time, this has been the Bourbon
Bytes podcast, a whiskey podcast with a gaming twist. Cheers, and I'll talk to you guys next episode.
Today on the Bourbon Bytes Podcast, we have two breaking news stories from the world of whiskey
and video games, including a 55 billion dollar buyout of one of the largest video game companies
in the world and an American whiskey heist that's one for the history books. Plus,
I'm reviewing a Single Cask Nation pick of Westland's Single Malt American Whiskey.
(00:32):
Hello everyone and welcome to the Bourbon Bytes podcast. I'm your host Clifton and
welcome to the week of Thursday, October 2nd, 2025. It is now officially spooky season,
so we're going to have a lot of fun, scary whiskeys in store for this month.
But this week, I think there were two major news stories that I wanted to address before we get
(00:55):
into the silliness and the craziness of October. Now, I'm sure I'm not going to be the first one
to tell you about at least one of these. If you listen to any other bourbon or whiskey related
news, whether it's a podcast or a blog that you read, I'm sure you've likely heard the headline
of today, which of course is the heist at Westland. So I saw this all over my feed,
(01:19):
even on places that I didn't expect to see any whiskey news. It was showing up there
because this is a first of its kind. Well, not first of its kind, but one of the largest of
its kind, especially here in the United States. But I do want to talk about some video game news
that's just as big, if not bigger than this story before I get into that, because I have
(01:40):
a Byte-Sized review that I want to do along with that story of Westland. But the other biggest
story that hit all of my feeds this week was the announcement that EA or Electronic Arts was being
acquired for 55 billion dollars. So they were a publicly traded company, but they are now going
private and they're being acquired by PIF, which is the Public Investment Fund in Saudi Arabia,
(02:05):
along with Silverlake and Affinity Partners. And this is massive news in the world of gaming.
If you don't know EA or Electronic Arts or EA Sports, they own a plethora of some of the
best selling games in the world right now. The one that hits home the most for me is The Sims
franchise. I actually have been playing a lot of Sims 4 lately, kind of re-found interest in that
(02:30):
last week or so, and bought a couple new expansion packs to test out over the weekend. And yeah, I've
just been really enjoying those games. But that franchise is included in this buyout. Now, not
only that, EA is also known for their other titles like Madden NFL, Apex Legends, Star Wars Jedi Fallen
Order, the FIFA games, Need for Speed, Battlefield, Bejeweled. All of these big games are part of their
(02:56):
portfolio and they are going to be acquired by these firms out of the Middle East. And at first,
I was kind of confused of why they would be interested in it, but it seems that Saudi Arabia
specifically has been trying to build out their entertainment and gaming industry. They feel like
those are areas that they've kind of been a bit underdeveloped in with their economy, so they're
(03:19):
really trying to branch out and invest. And I will say this is probably one of the biggest deals I've
ever seen. 55 billion dollars is what they're valuing Electronic Arts at, which is crazy. Now, I won't
pretend to be, you know, super in the weeds on the financial aspects of it all, but I do have concerns
as a gamer. Now, of course, their argument for this move is to accelerate their strategic vision
(03:41):
to advance the future of entertainment. That's what EA says in their press release. Now, the good
thing is they're going to continue to be headquartered here in the U.S. Their CEO is going to stay in place,
but this company that previously owned just 9.9 percent stake in EA now owns 100 percent of it.
Now, it seems like this was good news for shareholders. It boosted the stock a bit. They're
(04:03):
now going to give those stockholders 210 dollars per share in cash. Now, this is monumental because
this is the largest all cash sponsor take private investment in history. The press release said that
the board carefully evaluated this opportunity and concluded it delivers compelling value for
stockholders and is the best interest of all stakeholders. That's coming from their independent
(04:25):
board of EA directors. Now, there's also a few other quotes here as to why they picked PIF out
of Saudi Arabia. This quote says PIF is uniquely positioned in the global gaming and e-sports
sectors, building and supporting ecosystems that connect fans, developers and IP creators. So again,
they're they're really trying to build up this infrastructure there. And I know with EA, they
(04:49):
you know, they own the FIFA franchise. I know soccer or football, whatever you want to call it,
is is huge in the Middle East, especially Saudi Arabia. So I'm sure they see some potential in
that property alone. And the sports games, you know, I don't I don't really care that much,
honestly. Again, I think they're going to continue to make these games. I don't I don't think they're
(05:09):
going to really change too much other than maybe cutting some costs and hiring a lot of
non-American developers to work on them. But I do worry about some games like I mentioned
The Sims. Listen, not to make this political or anything, but I do know that Saudi Arabia
does have some pretty strict expectations when it comes to gender expression, sexuality,
(05:31):
women's rights, things like that. And I think that The Sims is a world where anyone can be anyone
they want to be. And I've enjoyed that about Sims since I was a kid. I used to play on console with
my little brother and make him have to be the wife while I was the the husband. But as I got older
and I realized that you could actually, you know, really express yourself, not only just the way
(05:55):
your your Sim looked in the career path they took, but even things like, you know, how they express
themselves, whether they want to dress a little more feminine, whether they want to be gay,
where they want to be bi, things like that. I think The Sims has been such an open minded
game that really lets you explore. It doesn't have to be your identity, right? It's it's your
Sims. You aren't attached to your Sims, but it allows players to kind of see different lifestyles
(06:19):
and see different play styles depending on, you know, how you run your game. And that's something
that I've always praised Sims for, even in their marketing. They do show a lot of, you know, same
sex couple, interracial relationships, things like that. But I do have a little bit of fear,
and this could just be me as an American speaking and not fully understanding the cultural
implications of what that means with it being 100% owned by a Saudi Arabian company. But I can't
(06:44):
help to be a bit concerned that they may take some of their religious and political ideologies
and use it as a form of censorship in the game. And I think if that were to happen, I think the
Sims community is outspoken enough that they would either, one, not let that happen, or two,
do a boycott of the game. Because listen, I've played Sims since I was literally a child. It's
(07:06):
one of my favorite franchises. Yes, it has its quirks. Yes, it has its bugs. I also totally get
that they are a microtransaction hellscape. Especially me, I just bought two expansion
packs over the weekend. So I'm fully aware that I've bought the game multiple times. It is a cost
sink for sure. But I will say, if they do start, you know, limiting the freedom of expression that
(07:28):
you see in these games, I think a lot of people are going to be upset and they're going to look
for alternatives. So I could totally be off base and speculation could mean nothing, but I'm not
the only one talking about it. I think with the cultural differences between, you know, the US
and somewhere like the Middle East, I just hope that they realize that they have a global player
base and that censorship shouldn't be tolerated in things like video games, where the whole point is
(07:53):
to, you know, create your own life and your own journey. That would just be a huge step backwards
for progress in video games. I guess you could probably have a similar concern for some of the
military games like Battlefield. I mean, you know, again, I'm not trying to be political here. I'm just
saying, like, if you have a company in the Middle East that owns, you know, the stake in electronic
arts, who's to say that they're going to make the good guys or the bad guys in some of these games?
(08:18):
Like, could that influence it? Again, it's all speculation. I'm sure the sports games will be fine.
But it does make me a bit curious and a bit concerned. But I'll give them the benefit of the
doubt. EA thinks it's their way to advance the future of entertainment, and I hope so. But yeah,
I'll keep an eye on that one. Again, I don't expect anything immediate to change. I think
this is going to roll out over time. They're treating it kind of like we see a lot of companies
(08:43):
that get bought out, like they're saying, you know, oh, nothing's going to change. It's going
to be the same EA that you love. But in my personal experience, that isn't always the case. So I'll
keep an eye on it. I'll see for sure. I'll hopefully see some positive impacts from it. Like I said,
I do want to give them the benefit of the doubt. But I just, you know, I have some shared concerns
with other people in The Sims communities over this buyout. All right. Well, like I said,
(09:08):
we had two big news stories. The next one is, of course, the Westland Heist. Now, once I give you
the news, I'm going to review actually a product from the Westland Distillery that I've not reviewed
here on the podcast yet. So I'm really excited to get into that. But let me tell you what's going
on in Washington, because this is, like I said, major headlines. An estimated one million dollars
(09:30):
worth of whiskey was stolen from Westland Distillery. Now, if you know Westland, they're
famous for their single malt whiskey out of Washington state. They partner with a lot of
stores for some single barrel expressions, but they also have a Flagship expression as well.
But approximately 12,000 bottles of craft whiskey was stolen from the distillery back at the end of
(09:51):
July. So they say around 1 p.m. on July 31st, a man in a freight truck pulled up to the Westland
Distillery warehouse in Burlington and showed warehouse workers the appropriate document
required to pick up the whiskey. The 12,000 bottles were then loaded into the freight truck
bound for a warehouse in New Jersey, but they never arrived. So they're suspecting that these
(10:12):
were fraudulent documents that were used to pick up the whiskey. And it was several days before,
you know, any of this was reported, right? It wasn't until August 6th that they filed an incident
report in New Jersey for the missing whiskey. They have not found out who was behind this or where
the whiskey went. Now, this is really unfortunate news, and I don't think I would say that, you know,
if this were maybe some major distillery where 12,000 bottles really is a drop in the bucket
(10:37):
when it comes to their output. But we're talking about Westland here, right? They're a craft
distillery. They do have nationwide distribution, but I mean, really, they are a small business. So
$1 million in revenue lost because of this is a huge deal. And I think the most unfortunate part
of this is 3,000 of those bottles were half of that year's special release of their Garryana
(11:02):
Cask whiskey. It was supposed to be a 10-year anniversary, 10-year-old Garryana Oak American
Single Malt. It was going to be Westland's first 10-year product. And, you know, that's where it
gets emotional to me because, you know, this whiskey isn't something they're just spitting out
every day. It's not like they stole some new make or whatever. They settled on these barrels for 10
years to make this special expression, and their Garryana Cask always do really well. If you're not
(11:25):
familiar, Garryana Oak grows in the Pacific Northwest, so that's probably why they do that
tribute to it. I know a few other brands like Doc Swinson's, which is also based out of Washington,
also do a Garryana Oak, but that's a bourbon. This is an American Single Malt. These were going to
retail for $150 each, which I think is a very fair price for a 10-year-old Single Malt whiskey with
a unique oak cask finishing. And it really, you know, makes folks wonder what's going to happen
(11:50):
to these bottles. Apparently, these kind of heists aren't that uncommon in, like, Scotland.
Apparently, when those happen, a lot of the bottles end up on the secondary market in Russia,
believe it or not, so they make it out of the country entirely. But when it comes to this, I
mean, where are these bottles going to be sold? Are they just going to disappear for a few years,
and then an independent bottler is going to come out with a mysterious 10-year-old Single Malt
(12:14):
Garryana Cask? I don't know. I don't know what happens in these types of situations.
I do know the only thing I can relate it to is some stores will have, like, a lost barrel,
where it's either a single barrel that another store bought, but they forfeited, or something
that's been sitting in the back of a warehouse. I also know, you know, especially with Scotch,
there's a lot of teaspooning done, where they, you know, call it a blended malt, but they just
(12:37):
put a little bit of one additional whiskey in it. That way, they don't have to disclose where the
original's from. I hope that something like that doesn't go down. If it does, I hope it goes through
the legal process, and Westland gets the, you know, the bulk of that income. And listen, I know
our tiered system in the U.S., our three tiers of distribution, is messy. I don't like it.
(13:01):
I like how other countries do it much, much better. I wish you could buy directly from the
distilleries. You don't have to go through a distributor. But unfortunately, that's the way it's
set up. So, this makes it really murky of what's going to happen to these bottles. The fact that
they were already bottled makes it even more interesting. They're not just stealing barrels,
they're stealing bottles of whiskey. So, they're going to have to either re-bottle them, put a new
label on them. Gosh, I don't even know what they could do. And that's not to say, you know, I'm
(13:25):
looking forward to seeing what happens to it, because I do really feel for the distillery,
and I hope they can find them. Honestly, it'd be great if they could just find the truck and bring
it back. That'd be, you know, great news. Whether or not that's going to happen, I don't know. As
long as the whiskey's not been messed with. That's when it gets a little sus, right? Now,
even though, you know, I said like a million dollars is devastating to a small craft distillery,
it seems like Westland is being, you know, pretty optimistic about it, given the circumstances.
(13:49):
They say this is an extremely rare thing, and while it is a setback, they're confident that
they're going to get to share this whiskey, and they're proud to make something people can enjoy.
Right now, they're saying that they're continue to focus on serving their customers, instead of the
investigation. Now, I'm sure now that this has made, you know, national headlines, there might
be more talk about it. So, it's good to see that they're mostly in high spirits. It's just, you
(14:10):
know, like I said, if this were to happen to a bigger distillery, where that's just, you know,
chump change for them, it would be a little more of a fun story, and I'd be a little more
excited about it, but this is, it just hurt my heart a little bit, and I hope they're able to
find those involved, and, you know, make up some of those funds, because while they can't make that
10-year whiskey again, they're gonna have to start from scratch, or, you know, continue aging
(14:31):
bottles for longer than they intended. I'm sure that they will get back on track, and we'll see
a 10-year release, even if we may not be able to get this certain batch of it. Hopefully,
we'll see more 10-year in the near future. So, cheers to those folks. Keep them in your thoughts,
and hopefully that gets solved soon. I will keep an eye on that story if we get any updates
(14:52):
in the coming weeks, but all this drama makes me really thirsty for my 'Byte-Sized Review'.
All right, well, I was looking to see if I had any Westland to accompany the story of the heist,
(15:12):
but the only bottle that I have is actually just a sample bottle, and this is from a Single Cask
Nation 2021 release. This was a single barrel of Westland Single Malt, aged 7 years old,
in Ex-Moscatel barrels, which isn't too crazy for Westland. Honestly, they do a lot of red
wine cask finishes, so it's not that surprising, but I do know that Single Cask Nation does some
(15:38):
incredible barrel selects, so I am beyond excited to give this one a try, and hopefully have a good
impression of Westland. I've only had a couple single barrel picks from stores, and I remember
them being delightful, but I've never had this single-cast nation pick. At least I don't think
I've reviewed it, because a little bit of the sample bottle is missing, so I definitely enjoyed
(16:00):
this one evening. I just don't think I've done a full review of it, so we're going to do it today
on this Byte-Sized review. I'm having to do some digging to get some info on this, just because it
came out, you know, four years ago. Like I said, seven years old. This was distilled back in 2013
and bottled in 2021. The ABV is 52.55%, so that comes out to be about 105.1 proof. They only had
(16:23):
about 266 bottles of this available, and unfortunately, I'm not able to find what the
retail on this release was. All the listings for on their website have been, you know, removed,
unfortunately. So if you happen to see this review, please leave a comment, either on the YouTube
video of it, or just on my Discord server, what the retail on this should be. Because I'm going
(16:45):
to go based off of other Westland Single Cask Nation releases, which they're still doing picks.
So I found an online release from 2024 of a Westland nine-year-old single malt that was
matured in ex-Sauternes casks, and that one's going for about $125. I would probably estimate this
around that same price point, maybe closer to $100 when it came out back in 2021. But again,
(17:08):
I can't find any original listings for this. All I can find is, you know, people leaving their
tasting notes and things like that. And I don't like to read too deeply into those reviews until
I've done my own, just because I don't want to be influenced by their notes. So I would guess between
$100 and $125 retail, just from what I can find online. So let's go and get this sample poured.
As with my sample a couple weeks ago, I don't remember who sent me this. I've had it for a few
(17:30):
years. I need to get better about making a list of who sends samples, and that way I can thank them
properly. But I do know that this was sent to me by one of my Discord members, because I recognize
the handwriting as someone that sends me samples frequently. Like I said the other week, I think
it might be Patrick and Heather Starkey, but like I said, it's been several years. They used to live
in Washington as well, which kind of contributes to that theory, but I could be wrong there as
(17:54):
well. So whoever sent me this, please let me know. I'd love to give you a proper shout out. Let's go
nose this whiskey. Oh yep, that's a single malt. So like I said, my experience with Westland has
been limited. I do know that they've done some exclusive store picks across Southern California
with really unique secondary cask finishing. Those usually come in at cask strength and relatively
(18:16):
high proof. This one being 105.1, I assume it's cask strength as well. But on the nose, that is
such a grain forward nose, I guess I'll say. Now muscatel wine is typically a fortified wine,
although technically it's any wine made from muscat grapes. And on the nose, there is a little
bit of a fresh berry that I think is coming through once you get past the fact that you're
(18:38):
smelling something that is very malt forward. There's a bit of a sweet kind of dessert shop
berry, almost like a fruit tart kind of note. The more I nose it, the less of like actual fruit I'm
getting on this. So, you know, I initially said fruit tart, but to me, this is more of like a
fruit marmalade or like a filling, maybe like a jelly filled doughnut because it's not screaming
(19:00):
fresh fruit. It's definitely has a bit of a condensed and what's it called? Macerated
quality to it, but very sweet. I'm glad I let this open up a bit because when I first nosed it,
like I said, I got all those malt and grain notes, which were a little off putting to me.
Now I do love me some American single malt. I've grown to enjoy it quite a bit over the years,
(19:20):
but sometimes when something reads like that, I interpret it as crafty,
you know, usually a bit young, although this is seven years old, which is pretty incredible,
but I just had to let it open up quite a bit to get some more of those sweet fruit,
dessert notes in terms of the actual fruit. It kind of reminds me, OK, this is it's going to be
like a mix between like a Fig Newton filling, but also a Wild Berry Pop-Tart. Like I don't know
(19:44):
what flavor wild berries supposed to be in a Pop-Tart, but it's kind of like a sweet kind of
blueberry ish kind of strawberry mixture. Actually, I don't know. I need to look up what
wild berry is, but it kind of is reminding me a little bit of that fruit blend for that, but with
a darker, richer quality to it that I think is coming from like the fig notes that I'm getting
on it, which is to be more expected from a fortified wine cask. All right. I really love
(20:07):
the nose on this, and I'm going to go in for a taste. Cheers. Oh, wow. Yeah, that's a really
delightful palate. That proof is is great. I was questioning whether or not it was cask strength
just based on the low number on it, but with the amount of flavor that this is packing, I can tell
for sure that if this isn't cask strength, it's it's a great proof for it to be bottled at.
(20:29):
Again, I'm surrounded by this just overall dessert shop fruitiness. Different in the way that I say
dessert shop when it comes to American whiskey. You know, a lot of times with that I'm thinking
of like pie crust, a little bit of toasted bread. This to me isn't that. It's actually more of the,
you know, like I said, the the fruity filling or maybe the cake filling or cake toppings. It is
(20:50):
mouth coating. It definitely lingers. It almost reminds me, you know, with it being so sweet,
it kind of reminds me as if I were to have a like a lollipop or a sucker, whatever you call them.
But of this particular flavor, like I said, it's like a dark fruit, maybe a bit of grape,
but not like the sour grape, you know, artificial grape that we get in the US.
Maybe it was more of a natural grape, maybe mixed with a bit of like a,
(21:13):
you know, I don't have a raisin flavored raisin flavored lollipop is a thing, but it kind of is
those darker, richer flavors, a little bit of blueberry there as well. Wow. Wasn't expecting
such a fruit bomb out of this. I mean, I was with it being, you know, wine cask finish, but
it's the most dominant flavor here. It's a more refined malt grain note. It is cereal grains.
(21:37):
It's definitely still in that territory, but it's not that kind of sour, tart cereal grain you
sometimes get with a younger single malt, especially American single malt. This one is a bit more of a
dry, almost more like a hay note, which doesn't sound that appetizing by itself. But when you
complement it with all the fruit that I'm getting on the mid palate and even the back end, it really
is a well balanced whiskey finish wise. I would say medium to long. It still lingers with the
(22:02):
fruit, but it goes a bit darker. There's a bit of like a bit of a tannic note there, a little bit
on the end. It kind of reminds you of some way that some bourbons do. It kind of goes a little
bit like leather a bit in the back end. It doesn't stay as bright and fruit forward once you've kind
of swallowed it. It kind of lingers on the back of the tongue, but a little more tannic, a little
bitter. There's a little bit of sulfur on the back end, but it's nothing that's going to overwhelm
(22:24):
your palate. Honestly, I think it complements the overall sweetness of this whiskey. It actually
gives it a little bit more depth, a little bit more lingering feelings, at least when it comes
to the finish. But overall, I mean, Westland is known as being one of the best American single
malts that's out there. That's pretty well known in the whiskey community. You know, they've been
doing it longer than a lot of distilleries, and I love they experiment with these different cask
(22:49):
finishes. I know they have a beer cask one available at Total Wine, but I typically go for
the darker red wines, fortified wine, finished whiskeys. Those are right up there in my palate.
You know, I just bought a Starward Australian single malt whiskey that was finished in
fortified wine casks. That actually was a pick from Les Maisons du Whiskey in Paris,
(23:12):
one of the few bottles I brought back for my Europe trip, and that was fantastic. This is
reminding me a lot of the things I loved about that one. I think that one might have been a
little bit older. I don't remember off offhand. I don't think I did a full review on it. Maybe
I'll do that sometime soon. But this is reminding me of everything I love about that bottle.
And I know I paid about $160-$170 for that one. So I think this is on par with that.
(23:34):
So when it comes to bang for your buck, with this being what I would guess is probably $125,
I think this is an amazing pour and a great buy for my buck. Now, I wish I would have said that
in 2021 and I would have bought a bottle of it. You know, that would have been great.
But yeah, just nothing really bad to say about this whiskey at all. It's well-rounded. That
(23:55):
cask influence from the secondary cask really, really expands on what's already great about
this whiskey. It takes, you know, an exceptional seven-year-old American single malt, rounds it
out, gives it a bit more fruitiness and more full-bodiedness from those muscatel wine casks.
So well done to the folks at Westland for making this and the folks at Single Cask Nation for
(24:18):
picking this, because as with most Single Cask Nation releases, this is an exceptional pick. And
it makes me want to go out and seek out some of their more recent Westland picks that they've
been doing, because like I said, a few more have popped up since then. It's a partnership they
regularly do when it comes to American whiskey. In terms of score, honestly, this one's pretty
(24:39):
hard to fault. With this being such a limited release, I'm sure it's sold out by now. Don't
pay the $500 on secondary for it. Obviously, I don't think it's worth that. But I think for the
price, which again, this is based on it being, you know, $125 or less. Again, it could be more,
which would cause me to revisit this number. But for this being $125, I think this is a nine out
(25:00):
of ten. This is really exceptional whiskey. I think the price is a bit high for a, you know,
seven-year-old single malt. But I think what Westland's doing continues to be innovative in
the world of American single malt whiskey. I mean, unfortunately, with the Garryana 10-year,
we're probably not going to see as much of that as we could have. Would have loved to try that one.
I would love to review it. But yeah, I think their whiskey continues to stand up and surprise
(25:27):
even someone that's a bourbon drinker. I think it's an American single malt that can get you
interested in American single malts. And I've always felt that about Westland. If you see a
bottle of this on the shelf for under $150, grab a bottle. You're not going to regret it,
especially if you're a fan of high-proof American single malts with a cask finish,
or not even American single malts, high-proof single malts with a strong
(25:50):
wine cask finish, because I know I am. All right. Well, that does it for this week's episode of
the Bourbon Bytes podcast. Thank you all for listening in. Let me know your thoughts on the
news stories and the review today. You can leave a message on our Discord server, which everyone is
able to access at bourbonbytes.com. You can also send me an email, contact@bourbonbytes.com or
(26:10):
tag me on social media at bourbonbites. I look forward to all of your comments and messages
after each of these podcast reviews. I know a lot of you go on YouTube and comment on the episode
there. I see it. I respond to it as much as I can. So thank you all so much. I love to hear from you
and let me know what you want me to review next. But until next time, this has been the Bourbon
Bytes podcast, a whiskey podcast with a gaming twist. Cheers, and I'll talk to you guys next episode.
Popular Podcasts
CrimeLess: Hillbilly Heist
It’s 1996 in rural North Carolina, and an oddball crew makes history when they pull off America’s third largest cash heist. But it’s all downhill from there. Join host Johnny Knoxville as he unspools a wild and woolly tale about a group of regular ‘ol folks who risked it all for a chance at a better life. CrimeLess: Hillbilly Heist answers the question: what would you do with 17.3 million dollars? The answer includes diamond rings, mansions, velvet Elvis paintings, plus a run for the border, murder-for-hire-plots, and FBI busts.
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.