[MM-MALTS-L] Penderyn malt whisky

[Kraaijeveld A.R.]

Hi Peter, all

I agree that the standard Penderyn is a pleasant, inoffensive malt, but if you take its age into account, I don't think they're doing a bad job at all. They also have/had a sherried and a peated version, and both of these have a bit more bite and character.

We'll simply have to wait and see how well it matures, and what its character will be as a 10-15 y.o.


slainte, Lex




~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Fly, you greatest fool
Why can't you say what they want you to
Why can't you do what they taught you
And show what they wanted of you

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Rivers of milk are running dry
Can't you hear the dolphins crying?

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Dr Alex R Kraaijeveld
Lecturer in Ecology & Evolution
School of Biological Sciences
University of Southampton
Building 62, Room 6031, Boldrewood Campus
Southampton SO16 7PX
Tel: +44(0)23 80593436
Fax: +44(0)23 80594459
Email: arkraa at soton.ac.uk
Website: www.sbs.soton.ac.uk/staff/ark/ark.php
School Website: www.southampton.ac.uk/biosci

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-----Original Message-----
From: mm-malts-l-bounces at grsnet.net [mailto:mm-malts-l-bounces at grsnet.net] On Behalf Of Peter Wood
Sent: 23 July 2009 09:18
To: MaltManiacs operated former 'MALT-L' Whisky List
Subject: [MM-MALTS-L] Penderyn malt whisky

Anybody know what to make of this stuff?  I 've just tasted my first bottle
of Welsh whisky. Brief comments : a gentle slurpable sweetie but lacks grip
- and what's the Madeira finish all about? Caramel toffee, vanilla,
floral-fruity notes and a tad of spice - possibly the only whisky I've
tasted where you cannot detect serious flavour changes between 46% as
bottled and 23% dilution. Ho-hum.

I went to the Penderyn site to wade through the inevitable ballyhoo, but I
have to admit I awarded them 8/10 for geological presentation. So the water
from under the distillery comes from aquifers in Mississippian
Carboniferous calcareous sediments (miself I'm more of a Pennsylvanian
Carboniferous man, having grown up on the S. Lancs coalfield, but any port
in a storm). So they, along with Glenmorangie, are probably the only
distilleries using seriously hard water (virtually all spring water is hard
to some extent - even the famed soft Glenlivet springs). Does it have an
impact on the final whisky? Sod all probably.

They distill in something that sounds like a high-tech Lomond still (how
many plates do they have in the stills at the factory not far south of Loch
Lomond? can they beat 5?) and collect at 92% abv. Sheesh - another 2.8% and
the stuff would not legally qualify as whisky when matured. I love this
statement "our spirit is virtually free from these chemical compounds
[which I interpret as meaning flavoursome congenerics] and this fact
becomes crucial during the cask ageing". Damn right the casks are crucial
Penderyn - without the casks this would be vodka or similar white trash.

But what the hell, they have a photo to show that Charlie Prince of Wales
loves the stuff, and Laphroaig have a photo to show that Charlie Lord of
the Isles loves the stuff, and if Kernow could get serious about whisky
distilling Charlie Duke of Cornwall would be in there like a robber's dog too.

Still, like I said, Penderyn is very slurpable till it starts to cloy.

Peter Wood



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