Welsh whisky

For the brand formerly known as Welsh Whisky, see Penderyn (whisky).

Welsh whisky (Welsh: wisgi Cymreig) is a whisky made in Wales. Whisky has been distilled in Wales since the Middle Ages, but production died out in the late nineteenth century. In the 1990s attempts were made to revive the practice, resulting in the establishment of Wales's first distillery in over one hundred years. Today Welsh whisky is represented by Penderyn.

History

Wales has a long history of alcohol production, but distillation came in the Middle Ages. The first evidence of stills in Wales dates to the 4th century AD.

"The Great Welsh Warrior" Reaullt Hir is said to have distilled chwisgi from braggot brewed by the monks of Bardsey Island in AD 356. These monks then allegedly developed the art of distilling further. However this is unlikely. The name "Reaullt" is a High Medieval loanword from Anglo-Norman French, so this name would not have been used before the eleventh century.

The medieval Welsh stories of The Mabinogion mention fermentation but not distillation; the end of the "Mead Song" in a sixteenth-century manuscript of the sixth-century Tales of Taliesin mentions distillation, although mead is a fermented beverage.

Revival

Penderyn Distillery

Manufacturing of whisky in Wales declined during the nineteenth century, with the commercial development of liquor discouraged by the rise of the temperance movement. The last notable distillery was established by R. J. Lloyd Price in 1887 at Frongoch. His company, the Welsh Whisky Distillery Company, was not a success and was sold in 1900 to William Owen of Bala for £5000. The company was finally liquidated in 1910.

In the 1990s entrepreneurs attempted to revive distillation in the country. The first attempts entailed bottling Scottish blends in Wales as "Welsh whisky", but a lawsuit by Scotch distillers ended the enterprise. In 2000 the foundation of the Welsh Whisky Company (now known as Penderyn) was announced. A distillery was built at Penderyn in the Brecon Beacons National Park. Production commenced in 2000 and the finished product, the first whisky commercially produced in Wales for a century, went on sale in 2004.

In 2016 the Dà Mhìle distillery near Llandysul in west Wales bottled its first whisky, an organic single grain whisky. With three distilleries making and marketing whisky, Wales was classified under European Union legislation as having a whisky industry.

In 2020, the Coles distillery produced the third single malt whisky in Wales at Llanddarog in Carmarthenshire making this the third whisky producer in Wales.

The Aber Falls distillery in Abergwyngregyn, Gwynedd commenced production in late 2017 and released its first whisky in 2021 after delaying the launch due to the Coronavirus.

Distilleries

Dà Mhìle

The name of the distillery was inspired by the initial bottling commissioned to Springbank to celebrate the millennium, (Dà Mhìle is Scottish Gaelic and translates to "two thousand.") The owners, John, Patrice and Paula came to Wales from Holland with dreams of setting up a centre for organic farming near Llandysul. In 2012 they opened the doors to the distillery on the farm, producing the very first organic single malt.

Coles

The Coles distillery, which also produces gin and vodka, is set in the Carmarthenshire countryside in the village of Llanddarog.

Aber Falls

The Aber Falls distillery in Abergwyngregyn released its first whisky on 17 May 2021, becoming the fourth whisky producer in Wales.

In the Welsh Wind

The distillery, which was founded in January 2018, now has the go-ahead to extend and develop the existing building and the construction of a cask and grain store which is fundamental to the business’s production of a ‘grain to glass’ Welsh whisky.

See also

• Outline of whisky