Festive times call from festive drams, and this is a very unusual XMAS dram, or Hannuka dram, or whatever. Usually we opt for big sherry monsters coming from a Speyside / Highland distillery at these festive times, but this one is hardly scotch at all. It’s a single cask bottled quite some time ago by the nice guys at the SMWS. A welsh whisky? Yes, why not, with world whisky gaining popularity, and SMWS bottling American / Japanese and other world whiskies.
One would argue that Penderyn are not often very good whiskies, and I must say that except the nice Madeira wood I’ve tasted long ago, I am not quite the fan of the distillery character. The sherry and peated styles were really not very good, and Although i know there are some new expressions out, having tasted the previous editions, did not leave me wanting to taste more of that. However, I’ve heard very good things about this single Madeira cask, and since i a was in an adventurous mood (a while back when I opted for the bottle share). This baby comes from a first fill Madeira hogshead, there were 270 bottles in the batch.
SMWS 128.6, Rumbling, reverberating, resonances, Penderyn, 7 years old, 59.9%
Nose : Wow. Big nose on this one, Rich and meaty and sweet… very rich with Demerara sugar and plums, sultanas and overripe melons. There’s a wine-y note as well with the Madeira quite prominent. Orange peel and cinnamon sticks, as well as a minty note. One could call it Hedonistic as it’s über sweet and so rich , with the high abv its one hell of a nose, Excellent start!
Palate : Big and meaty. Sweet marinated meet, apricots & sultanas in honey, sweet golden syrup. Polished wood,cinnamon-y pepper, leather. Very concentrated and rich, ending chocolate and chilly, with hints of mint leaf
Finish : sweet, apricot leather, wine, dates.
This is a lovely Xmas-y dram if there ever was one, so rich, sweet and lovely. It’s a real celebratin going on the palate and nose. Highly recommended, and fitting for this time of year.Good stuff from the SMWS.