Penderyn Aur Cymru Review



“Give Me Just a Little More Time”

Country: Wales
Brand: Penderyn Aur Cymru (Madeira Finish)
Type: Single Malt Whisky
Age: NAS
ABV: 46 %

Colour: Golden

Nose: Give the Penderyn sufficient time in the glass before Nosing. At least half and hour or so. It's a young Whisky and the Alcohol is quite present. At first I find Dried Fruits, New Oak, Apple Pie, light Vanilla and Toffee. After a while some Floral and Grassy tones, light Honey, White Peach, Banana, Dusty Grain, Young Bourbon and Sweet Red Wine appear as well. It certainly shows some character of its own but it would likely benefit from more Cask time. 

Palate: Quite Sweet and a bit Edgy at first and slightly Bitter and Dry later on with Young Oak, light Vanilla, Dried Fruit, light Honey, Banana, Melon, Orange, Bourbon, Sweet Red Wine, Pepper and Ginger.

Finish: Middle-Long and Sweet but later on Dry and Sharp with Oak, Banana, Melon, light Honey, Bitter Orange, Dried Fruit, Toffee, Pepper and Ginger. After a while the Madeira becomes quite noticeable.

I added a bit of water and on the Nose I find extra Honey, Malt and Mandarin. On the Palate and in the Finish the Alcohol retreats of course and that's a good thing. However, the Flavours become too thin for my taste. Try a few drops and see where it gets you!

Rating: 81

Nose: 21 - Taste: 20 - Finish: 19.5 - Overall: 20.5

Penderyn VC (Picture Credit: Penderyn)

General Remarks: The Penderyn Distillery is located in the village of Penderyn in the foothills of the Brecon Beacons and became operational in 1990. Until 2014, the whole production process from Wash to New Make Spirit occurred in one Single Still and the wash was bought from a local beer brewer. But the production did not keep up with demand and in 2012 a second identical Still was installed, followed in 2014 by 2 additional traditional Pot Stills and Mashing equipment. Thus, capacity increased to 300.000 litres annually. The distillery has a very nice VC that attracts around 35.000 visitors per year. The Aur Cymru (Welsh Gold) I'm tasting today matured in Ex-Bourbons Casks for around 5 years before being finished in Ex-Madeira Casks. It's Non Chill-Filtered. It sells at around 55 US Dollars. I must congratulate Penderyn on the ,Packaging and Presentation of this Whisky. Really very nice and modern!

Drinking Experience Neat: Okay/Good

Conclusion: Those of you who read my reviews on a regular basis will know that in general I'm not a huge fan of Red Wine finishing. I often find that the Red Wine makes the Spirit too Sweet. That's also the case with this Penderyn Aur Cymru in my opinion. But let's start with the Nose. I actually like it. There is a lot to discover considering its young age. But its youth also brings lots of edgy Alcohol and that's the reason I took away a full point. But the Character is there and the Madeira adds to the Fruity Young Spirit. Special attention for the White Peach note. Very clear as long as you carefully sniff around the edge of the Glass. As stated before, I find this Penderyn too Sweet on the Palate and the Finish is a bit rough and, well, unfinished. Would be great to see what another 5 years or so in the Ex-Bourbon Cask could do for this Spirit. It would probably better absorb the Sweet Madeira. In any case this is not a bad whisky by all means and the Penderyn Spirit shows it can stand its own ground. It just needs a little more time!

Jan van den Ende                                                         November 25, 2014

The Still at Penderyn (Picture Credit: Penderyn)

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Dear Jan,
interesting review.

I had a sample of this one end of last year and I have to admit that I was totally disappointed and could not find much interesting notes and flavours. Too young, edgy and absolutely not harmonic and quiet spirity. I gave it quiet some time because I knew the sherried version of this one before and found it quiet good but also still too young. I would be interested in an older sherried version. But, this madeira version was absolutely not my coup of tea.

Did you try the sherried version, yet?

Best regards
Björn

Jan van den Ende said...

Hi Bjorn, Thanks for your reaction. Like you I find this Single Malt too young. And, as you know, I'm not a huge fan of Red Whine Finishing in general. I also think you can not compare the Penderyn to Scotch whiskies. I've tried some West-European Single Malts in the meantime and it's much more related to those. And when you compare it to those (and I did) it's not bad actually. I haven't tried the Sherried and Peated Pendery as yet. I probably will like them as well as I think the Penderyn spirit is promising. It just needs time and adequate Wood Management. Have a Great Weekend!
Jan