penderyn welsh whisky

[crosbo]

I was given a bottle of penderyn whisky for my birthday which I opened tonight. I found it very light and very drinkable and wondered whether this is the future of whisky develoment. I came on this website to see if others more expert than I had commented on welsh whisky. Admittedly it doesnt have the depth of speyside or the fulsome flavour of traditonal favourites but it reminded me the difference between old world and new world wines. Perhaps I am reading to much into this and I should get back to enjoying the bottle. I was curious what others thought

[lexkraai]

Hi crosbo

Don't forget that Penderyn is the first bottling of the Gwalia distillery and very young: 3 y.o. No doubt, as it matures, it will pick up more complexity. But I do agree that at this young age, it is already very drinkable amd I look forward to older bottlings in the future. I published some tasting notes and more information on Welsh whisky at http://www.celticmalts.com/journal-a32.htm. Earlier articles in the same journal go into the history and myth of whisky distilling in Wales (go to the table of contents and click on other articles starting with 'Welsh whisky -')

Cheers, Lex

[SpiritofShetland]

It's what every new distiller has to do to survive. Bottle a batch as soon as it can legally be called whisky and start to get some returns on the investments.

They also do it keep the whiskypublic interested in what they do and to give them a glimpse of what to expect.

As for Penderyn, I go got a case of it earlier this summer and must say I was pleasantly surprised. A very well-balanced malt with pleasant, young floral flavours. I do belive it will age gracefully and will be in line to get a bottle or six when that time comes.

But do not compare it to excisting bottlings at it's current age, it's just not fair. But set it head to head with Benromach Traditional, that should be an even match.

[Timbob]

We have just come back from a holiday in Wales and come back with a bottle of Penderyn - and we at our Whisky club were pleasently surprised too with the flavours that came out.
You can taste the toffee in it...wonderful. Bottle lasted 10 mins
Took me over a week to find one in the shops in Wales, and one of our members ordered a couple of bottles on the penderyn website, which were delivered the next day...
We have featured it as our whisky of the month for two months now.
Tim
http://www.weedramsociety.co.uk

[Lawrence]

Several years our local scotch club tried a Welsh whisky called The "Prince of Wales" and it was really awful, it smelled and tasted like burnt tires. It made the Loch Dhu look and taste like a really fine dram.

I am glad to read that the new product coming from Wales is recieving such positive reveiws and I look forward to trying it.

[Lawrence]

Several years our local scotch club tried a Welsh whisky called The "Prince of Wales" and it was really awful, it smelled and tasted like burnt tires. It made the Loch Dhu look and taste like a really fine dram.

I am glad to read that the new product coming from Wales is recieving such positive reveiws and I look forward to trying it.

[Lawrence]

Several years our local scotch club tried a Welsh whisky called The "Prince of Wales" and it was really awful, it smelled and tasted like burnt tires. It made the Loch Dhu look and taste like a really fine dram.

I am glad to read that the new product coming from Wales is receiving such positive reviews and I look forward to trying it.

[lexkraai]

Prince of Wales, a single malt, and Swn Y Mor, a blend, were both sold as Welsh whisky, but they weren't distilled in Wales. They were Scottish whiskies which had received some sort of extra treatment (allegedly filtration through a layer of herbs) to make them 'Welsh'. The company marketing them was taken to court and lost. They went bankrupt soon after and several of their directors were involved in some dodgy tax evasion scams. They had plans to distil whisky on Welsh soil in due course and the welshified Scottish stuff was supposed to keep money coming in until they could sell their own real Welsh whisky. As said, that plan didn't work out. The current Gwalia distillery, which makes Pendryn, is not a continuation of the earlier enterprise although the still that Gwalia uses was originally designed for the earlier company.

I'm very glad they got this far and I really look forward to see how Penderyn will develop over the years.

Cheers, Lex

[Lawrence]

I also remember a fellow doing something similar on the Isle of Man, buying scotch whisky and redistilling it for resale, he was sued and shut down.

[SpiritofShetland]

Not shut down, just changed the name and promoting of the product.

Originally I belive it was called Glen Kella, but now simply is called Manx Spirit - and it's redistilled whisky.

http://www.manx-spirit.com/