Whisky Discovery #64

Penderyn Sherrywood NAS (46% abv OB Bottled 2012)
Welsh Single Malt Whisky
Circa £36.00 70cl

Penderyn Sherrywood

As the end of the show was imminent we stayed with Penderyn to the end and so atter finishing their Madeira we moved on to the Sherrywood, and Dram No.20 of the afternoon was poured.

Whilst most Scottish and Irish distilleries would use a conventional two or three pot still system, the technology developed at Penderyn allows an extremely clean "flavourful" spirit to be produced from a single still.

Each morning the unique copper pot still is charged with the malted barley wash. As the steam heats the liquid it starts to bubble and the vapour rises into a copper column above the still. The column has a number of perforated plates and the vapour will condense on the first plate before being returned to the still.

As the process continues the vapour will reach the second plate and so on, before evaporating and falling back to the still, each step leaving the spirit smoother, softer and more refined. Eventually the spirit is drawn from the seventh plate on the second column and piped to their spirit safe where it lands, literally drop by drop, over the course of the day.

As mentioned previously just one barrel of whisky is produced a day, but in order to fill that barrel the new spirit (at 92% abv it has the highest strength of any malt whisky) is combined with water from the Penderyn Distillery’s natural spring, located underneath the distillery, reducing it to 63.4% abv - their cask strength.

This spirit is then filled into casks for maturation. Penderyn use Buffalo Trace bourbon casks for the first part of the maturation and then finished in Oloroso Sherry casks.

At premium strength (46% vol) Penderyn Sherrywood single malt whisky yields rich dark fruits and caramels from dry Oloroso sherry casks which intermingle with green apples, hazelnuts and hints of sugared almonds. The nose is quickly reminded of Penderyn whiskies' classic freshness. The taste begins with remarkable sweetness that gives way for a moment to a refreshing dryness in the mid palate. Caramels and sultanas persist into a long finish.

So What do I think?

Unfortunately I never managed to fit one of these bottles in my bag, but did write some notes down:

Colour: Burnished gold

Nose: Softness and lightness at first, then opening up with fruits and sweetness, finally revealing a rich sponge cake, honey, and citrus, got that 'jelly bean' aroma too.

Palate: Oloroso sherry oak influence is prominent but not overpowering. Rich fruits and cherried Christmas cake nutty bitternes and even a little chocolate

Finish: Nice finish, sweet with almonds

I really enjoyed this, rich and sweet but still lively and smooth, wish I managed to squeeze one of these into my bag too, out of the three Penderyn's tasted I think this one was my favourite.