Blind Tasting No. 13 Recap
Single Malt Ladies (Penderyn On It)
Last weekend we celebrated Galentine’s Day by tasting three different Welsh single malts produced by Penderyn Distillery. Penderyn produces a uniquely light spirit through a single distillation using a Faraday still, which is named after the inventor, Dr. David Faraday (yes, related to the physicist, Michael Faraday). It’s essentially a pot and column hybrid still, where the column sits atop the pot, increasing rectification. Penderyn’s unaged spirit comes off the still at a whopping 92% ABV! That’s a pretty pure spirit considering single malt scotches typically come off the still around 70% ABV. This means that there are fewer characteristics coming from the fermentation in Penderyn’s whisky.
You might be wondering why we chose to celebrate Galentine’s Day by tasting Penderyn single malts. Well, everyone on their distillation team is female! Laura Davies is the distillery manager, Aista Jukneviciute is the blender and Bethan Morgans is the trainee distiller. You can read more about these ladies who are paving the way for more females to get into the industry on Penderyn’s website!
Let’s talk about the whiskies we tried. All three whiskies were the same base single malt, meaning they were fermented from 100% malted barley. They were initially aged in ex-bourbon barrels and then finished in three different casks.
The “Madeira Finish” expression was finished in, as the name suggests, madeira casks, which adds dry, fruity and spicy notes to whisky. The fruitiness was apparent on the nose with dried fruit, strawberry and cherry aromas accompanied by floral, grassy and butterscotch notes. The members tasted notes of black tea, macadamia nut, rose extract, plain popcorn and nougat.
The “Peated” expression is not actually a peated single malt, but rather it was finished in a cask that previously held peated malt from Islay. Peated casks add a touch of smoke to the whisky and this was easily picked up by the members. They picked up notes of moss, cigarette butts, chip beef, smoked meat, seaweed, vanilla and soap. The palate had less heat than the madeira finish with notes of cigarettes, dried mango and spice.
The “Sherrywood” expression was finished in oloroso sherry butts, which typically gives whisky notes of dark ripe fruits and nuts. The sherry influence was apparent on the nose with notes of dried red fruits, wine and Juicy Fruit gum. The members picked out lots of funky notes on the palate like papaya, rotten apples, Gushers, fermented rock candies and medicinal flavors.
Because the spirit is distilled to 92% ABV, the casks used for finishing had a much stronger influence on the flavor profile of the whisky than they would on a typical single malt scotch. This meant that all three of these whiskies were so different and interesting. There wasn’t a crowd favorite, which I find so great. It shows you that there’s no one flavor profile for everyone! Each person has their own preferences.
Now remember, this tasting was completely blind. The members did an awesome job deciding which whisky was which and most of then correctly guessed all three whiskies! I’m continually impressed to see what the members palates are capable of and how much they develop with each tasting!
