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Penderyn Madeira finish

11 January 2010 417 views Written by: Gal Granov

ped log

Well well, my first Welsh single malt. (not very surprising, since there is currently only one Welsh single malt distillery, you guessed right. it’s Penderyn.

Penderyn Distillery is the only distillery in Wales and one of the smallest distilleries in the world. It is one of the few remaining independent distilleries, and takes its name from the old Welsh village in which it is located and nestles in the foothills of the ancient Brecon Beacons mountain range. Only one cask of Penderyn is distilled each day, most of it goes into casks for aging, and a small amount goes into other products which are also in the Penderyn range  (i.e :Merlyn  Welsh Cream Liqueur)

The Madeira finish single malt defines the ‘house style’ by Penderyn , is distilled in their unique copper pot still, then matured in Bourbon barrels and finished in Madeira wine casks. The nectar is then bottled at 46 % Abv (Penderyn refers to it as “premium strength”) , [which is very welcome :) ]

The Penderyn site is very informative, with some information and great design, also some tasting notes, and video on their range of malts. nice work guys!

I have been meaning to taste one of their malts for a long time, but it’s just impossible to get it here in Israel (it’s not sold here, and laws prohibit them to send any samples or the like, don’t ask me why.)

now let’s get to business and to the tasting notes:

Penderyn 70cl 260909-500x500 .

Penderyn single malt Madeira Finish (46%)

Color: Golden straw

Nose: Sweet notes as one might expect from a Madeira cask finish. Quite a few Oaky notes, toffee, heather.

Palate: Honey, Vanilla, The oakiness is there no doubt. heather is also there on the tongue, a bit of cinnamon towards the end. It’s a young malt no doubt, and it’s not as smooth as some other Madeira finished malts that come to mind (The Balvenie 17 year for example).

Finish: Fruity notes on the finish, the vanilla is even stronger now, and hey, Melons big time. a very distinctive Melon taste is there. Ripe melon, the orange one we get here. Sweet and very distinctive. great finish. i like!

Overall:

This malt is surprisingly good. i have not sampled a lot of Madeira finished malts, but the nose and finish are really nice. the spirit is indeed young, not rounded enough in my opinion but has a lot of potential. It’s Hard to tell how old this malt is, but i would guess maybe 5 or 6 years of age. Definitely worth sampling, if you like Madeira finished. (Josh, this one is for you!)

Well done Penderyn, well done Wales.

Thank you Matt from Whisky4everyone for sharing this malt sample with me and letting me sample this whisky, otherwise impossible for me to get hold of.

Slainte!

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  • Anonymous

    You guessed, I love the Madeira & Port finished malts! This baby has been on my radar for a little while now. I too had the Balv17yr madeira and find it to be one of the spiciest, sexiest malts I’ve tried (granted, I’ve only been sipping on scotch for 3 years or so).

    Nice notes. I am imagining the mingling of melon and spice… As I imagine it, I picture my wallet getting slimmer and slimmer…

    Thanks for the great review Gal!

    Josh (@yossiyitzak)

    • Anonymous

      thanks josh.
      i knew this one is for you. i don’t think it’s that expensive, but i hear you :)
      should definetly be on your list. would love to share notes .
      Good day from the Holy-land, where there is no winter.

  • yossiyitzak

    You guessed, I love the Madeira & Port finished malts! This baby has been on my radar for a little while now. I too had the Balv17yr madeira and find it to be one of the spiciest, sexiest malts I've tried (granted, I've only been sipping on scotch for 3 years or so).

    Nice notes. I am imagining the mingling of melon and spice… As I imagine it, I picture my wallet getting slimmer and slimmer…

    Thanks for the great review Gal!

    Josh (@yossiyitzak)

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  • http://twitter.com/ScotchHobbyist Scotch Hobbyist

    Great notes on this one. I was lucky enough to win a bottle before Penderyn discovered what a hassle it is to ship to the U.S. and changed their contest policy to UK-only. I’ve only tried one dram at this point, but will be pulling it out to review shortly.

    Your comment about “big time” melons rings true with me from that one dram I had. And yes, this is a very distinctive malt. Also, you’re very much on the money when you say this isn’t as smooth as the Balvenie 17 Madeira, but then, that’s to be expected for a younger malt.

    Anyway, I enjoyed your notes, and after reading this I’m looking forward to revisiting this very interesting expression. Glad to see you putting out more blog entries lately. Keep up the good work!

    Cheers,
    Jeff

    • Anonymous

      Jeff,
      your feedback is much appreciated. i don’t know what is the big deal shipping whisky to the USA? (customs? regulation?) the US is a very weird country when it comes to some issues. (not that Israel is better by any means).
      I hope to keep up the good pace and write more posts , trying to do my best before the Baby is due, and will surely slow things down.

      i will surely check out your notes when you revisit this one. keep on dramming!

      Gal.

  • Anonymous

    Gal,
    Glad you enjoyed it – it is the nicest Penderyn we have tried yet. We are off to the distillery next week (snow permitting!) so are interested to see what else they have maturing. Watch out for our ‘Distillery visit’ review soon.

    As you say, Madeira finishes are rare but the nearest comparison would be the Benriach 15yo Madeira finish (sorry Josh – Balvenie Madeira is in a slightly different price league!). The Penderyn and Benriach are roughly the same price – £30-35.

    Matt

    • http://www.whiskyisrael.co.il Gal(WhiskyIsrael)

      Matt,
      indeed it’s nice. i was checking Penderyn out in the whisky bible (2010), and for some odd reason this malt is not even there. Murray lists 2 other Madeira finished malts, one of which only 3 bottles were ever made and another one that is an exclusive version (both cask strength). sometimes i dont get how come he doesn’t have common whiskeys listed. (for example: he didnt have Lagavulin 16 on his 2009 bible, which is really funny. their best selling most renowned expression , and he lists only the 12 year CS…)

      man, you are so lucky to live in the UK and be able to visit. have a great time there. surely some new expressions are to be had there.

      and thanks again for the sample mate, it was a real treat!

      Gal.

  • http://twitter.com/ScotchHobbyist Scotch Hobbyist

    Great notes on this one. I was lucky enough to win a bottle before Penderyn discovered what a hassle it is to ship to the U.S. and changed their contest policy to UK-only. I've only tried one dram at this point, but will be pulling it out to review shortly.

    Your comment about “big time” melons rings true with me from that one dram I had. And yes, this is a very distinctive malt. Also, you're very much on the money when you say this isn't as smooth as the Balvenie 17 Madeira, but then, that's to be expected for a younger malt.

    Anyway, I enjoyed your notes, and after reading this I'm looking forward to revisiting this very interesting expression. Glad to see you putting out more blog entries lately. Keep up the good work!

    Cheers,
    Jeff

  • granov

    thanks josh.
    i knew this one is for you. i don't think it's that expensive, but i hear you :)
    should definetly be on your list. would love to share notes .
    Good day from the Holy-land, where there is no winter.

  • granov

    Jeff,
    your feedback is much appreciated. i don't know what is the big deal shipping whisky to the USA? (customs? regulation?) the US is a very weird country when it comes to some issues. (not that Israel is better by any means).
    I hope to keep up the good pace and write more posts , trying to do my best before the Baby is due, and will surely slow things down.

    i will surely check out your notes when you revisit this one. keep on dramming!

    Gal.

  • whiskyforeveryone

    Gal,
    Glad you enjoyed it – it is the nicest Penderyn we have tried yet. We are off to the distillery next week (snow permitting!) so are interested to see what else they have maturing. Watch out for our 'Distillery visit' review soon.

    As you say, Madeira finishes are rare but the nearest comparison would be the Benriach 15yo Madeira finish (sorry Josh – Balvenie Madeira is in a slightly different price league!). The Penderyn and Benriach are roughly the same price – £30-35.

    Matt

  • whiskyisrael

    Matt,
    indeed it's nice. i was checking Penderyn out in the whisky bible (2010), and for some odd reason this malt is not even there. Murray lists 2 other Madeira finished malts, one of which only 3 bottles were ever made and another one that is an exclusive version (both cask strength). sometimes i dont get how come he doesn't have common whiskeys listed. (for example: he didnt have Lagavulin 16 on his 2009 bible, which is really funny. their best selling most renowned expression , and he lists only the 12 year CS…)

    man, you are so lucky to live in the UK and be able to visit. have a great time there. surely some new expressions are to be had there.

    and thanks again for the sample mate, it was a real treat!

    Gal.

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