Penderyn (Wales) | Whisky Den

Bought – Tesco, 12^th November 2014

Ratings:
93/100 – Whisky Bible 2015
80.82/100 – Whiskybase (average from 13 member votes)

As Christmas draws ever closer, anything with the word “sherry” in it has me reaching for a mince pie. The Sherrywood is my second bottle by Penderyn, having got the Madeira last year. Both get great reviews and come highly recommended.

If you look in the Whisky Bible 2015 under “Penderyn” (the only whisky distillery in Wales) you’d be forgiven for thinking that the author, Jim Murray, has shares in the company! A very high proportion of the whiskies released by the distillery score 90 or more. The latest Sherrywood mentioned scores 93/100 with the comment “a malt that really must be tasted at body temperature for the very best results.” So don’t go putting any ice in it! Unless you live in an igloo, where “room temperature” tends to be a bit ice-like.

Remarks on Whiskybase suggest that, if you’re a fan of sherry cask whisky, then the Penderyn Sherrywood hits that juicy nail on the head. One comment mentions adding water then leaving the whisky for an hour to let it fully open up in the glass. An interesting idea but that suggests forward planning, or a lot of restraint. When it comes to whisky I generally want it when I pour it. Perhaps I should add “self control” to my list of resolutions for 2015!

Here’s ‘The Good Dram Show’ doing a tasting on You Tube (Oct 2012):

Bought – Tesco, 10th October 2013

Ratings:
86/100 – Ralfy, of www.ralfy.com
Review: – Ralfy – Penderyn from 2010 – YouTube

I haven’t included a review mark from the Whisky Bible mainly because there isn’t one recent enough to cover this bottling. When the 2013 bible was written, entries for Penderyn Madeira appear almost monthly and the last entry is for May 2012. My bottle is stamped December 2012, so I’ll have to wait until the Whisky Bible 2014 to find out what Jim Murray thinks of it.

What the Whisky Bible shows is that the Penderyn Madeira is consistently excellent. Of the 22 different versions in the 2013 bible edition, the lowest score is 85.5/100, with more than half scoring 90 or more. The highest mark is 95/100.

The review I’ve included from Ralfy is from 2010, so it predates the ‘Madeira’ version that I bought but it’s a good insight into what the Penderyn whisky is all about. Ralfy also does another review in 2010 where he visits the Bon Accord pub in Glasgow, Scotland where the landlord mentions how popular a seller the Penderyn is. Here’s a whisky pub in Scotland selling a vast selection of Scottish malts and a Welsh whisky is a best seller! It clearly shows that the Penderyn is crafted by Welsh wizards of whisky who really know their stuff!