[Scotch Log] Penderyn Whiskey

Scotch: Penderyn Single Malt Welsh Whisky
Region: Wales
Malt: Single Malt, unknown age
Price: ~$60

Proof: 92

While exploring the fine Scotch list at The Vortex last night, I saw that they had an entry for "Welsh Whisky". Being a general fan of all things Welsh, and being curious what this was all about, I decided to give it a shot.

The color was fairly light, a diluted tea or honey color. The smell was sweet, especially up front. A lot of brown sugar and not astringent in the least. It was quite pleasant to smell; I found it difficult to move on to tasting! There's also a lingering honeysuckle or other floral flavor once the sweetness fades a bit.

The flavor had more in common with maple syrup than the aforementioned brown sugar, but the mouthfeel was very thin. It has a pleasant burn in the mouth, but at first I didn't notice any warmth once I swallowed. However, as I continued drinking I found that a very pleasant warmth was building slowly behind my ribs.

The taste isn't quite Scotch and it isn't quite Irish, but it's quite tasty. I've since learned that the Penderyn distillery is the only whisky still in Wales, and it only began production in 2000. The current age of the single malts it is producing are between 4.5 and 5.5 years old. This definitely surprised me, it could easily pass as a 10 year or even 12 year old Scotch. However, by the end of the glass the drink was tasting rougher, more harsh. I suspect this is a symptom of the youth of the bottle.

Overall, I consider this a very promising distillery, I'd be more than happy to continue drinking Penderyn Whisky in the future, although until the bottles start getting a little bit older, I think I'll stop at one glass a night, rather than sticking with it all night like some of the smoother whiskies. I can't wait to see what else they produce, especially since there is rumour of them producing a Sherry cask bottling and a Peated bottling[0], both of which would be very interesting!

Their website implies that they do not produce very many bottles... with luck I'll be able to track down a bottle of this locally[1]...

[0] It appears that these have already been released as limited editions, but some commentors appear to imply they will be making seperate full-release versions.

[1] Oooh! The Penderyn site has a "find a retailer" section! Nice! It looks like they carry this at Beverage Superstore in Suwanee, Green's on Ponce, and Tower in Buford, amongst many others. Bonus :D