Penderyn Dragon Range – Celt 41%

Posted on by
Reply

I really enjoy exploring expressions from a single distillery – it enables one to discern underlying commonalities whilst at the same time the variations that come from different elements – be it maturing in different casks, periods of time or use of peat.

Even better is when you have a trio packaged conveniently in 200ml bottles – perfect to share with a few folks without needing to host a party!

Celt was the last in our trio – the only one that used peat. What did we think?

Penderyn Celt 41%

  • Nose – Is that dried apricot? Then shifted quickly into briney sea salt (reminiscent of Talisker?), then apples and vanilla, with the smokiness also joining, sweet caramel, smoked bacon, sponge cake… delightfully evolving and shifting between different elements
  • Palate – Mmmmm…. buttery, smokey, well rounded whisky with that oily quality that properly coats the palate, nice warm fire
  • Finish – From sweet to bitter, lingering to leave a subtle smokey tail

This one caught our attention – most enjoyable and held up very well even after some time. For some – it was the clear favourite! Though the ex-bourbon matured Myth without peat was also a winner.

As we sat back and considered all three in the Dragon Range – Legend, Myth and this Celt – we recognized some common threads…. each had apples and vanilla on the nose and a nice bitterness on the palate. Interesting!

And what do the folks at Penderyn have to say?

Celt is a single malt whisky finished in ex-peated quarter casks, bottled at 41% abv. (43% in the USA). This whisky has a Kosher certificate.

  • Nose: Mild aromas of peat smoke, early morning at the rocky seaside and warm marmalade on toast all compete for our attention.
  • Palate: It begins with great sweetness before the smoky, slightly medicinal flavours descend.
  • Finish: Slight bitterness follows that leaves a long and lingering freshness in the mouth.

I bought this tasting set of 200 ml bottles for EUR 37. Then hand delivered samples to my tasting companions in Sweden and France.

Here is the convoluted tale of how we came to taste the Penderyn Dragon range:

What about our earlier Penderyn explorations?

If you don’t want to miss a post, why not follow Whisky Lady on:

Penderyn Dragon Range – Legend 41%

Posted on by
Reply

While not called Legend, a few of us have tried Penderyn’s Madeira finish over the years. It proved to us that this Welsh distillery has got the balance right – affordable, enjoyable with just enough interesting going on to make us happy to repeat! My most recent revisit was at the close of 2020 with my Advent Calendar malty marathon.

The Madeira finish is a core Penderyn expression and a bottle sitting in Mumbai was intended to anchor an exploration with our desi tasting companions. Which we will get to… one of these months or years…

However in the interim, “Legend” – also a Madeira finish – beckoned as part of the Dragon range tasting set.

Penderyn Legend 41%

  • Nose – Apples, touch of citrus, subtle, vanilla cream, as it warmed up a hint of rum raisins and cream
  • Palate – Some spice, a bit of woodiness, later we wondered – was that a touch of grapefruit? It also had that bitter quality
  • Finish – Spicy at the back – black peppers then ginger

After the delightful Myth which had fruit in abundance in the nose and considerable substance on the palate with a satisfying finish, the Legend came across as… dare I say it… a wee bit flat?

We speculated perhaps we should have started with the Legend – with fresh palates, perhaps this would have made a better ‘appetizer’ before moving on to the bourbon. A bit counter-intuitive but may have resulted in a more harmonious progression.

We set it aside and carried on with the Peaty Celt… then returned to revisit. No major transformation however did detect some red currents, some spice and bitterness.

And what do the folks at Penderyn have to say?

Legend is a Madeira-finish single malt whisky, bottled at 41% abv. (43% in the USA)

  • Nose: Aromas of fresh apples and citrus fruits intermingle with cream fudge and sultana raisins to create a complex yet fresh, clean and well-balanced whisky.
  • Palate: Incredibly smooth and both fresh and rich dried fruits abound. Delicate and sweet on the palate with just a hint of bitterness to remain refreshing.
  • Finish: A long aftertaste of Madeira cake and sultanas.

Would we agree? Not entirely… Could it be my opening and transferring into wee sample bottles a month+ before and distributing dampened the character? Some whiskies are particularly susceptible to losing their “oomph!” with oxidation. Or could it be the recipe for Legend differs from their core Madeira finish?

Either way, we did not find the complexity or the rich dried fruits. Pity…

Here is the convoluted tale of how we came to taste the Penderyn Dragon range:

What about our earlier Penderyn explorations?

If you don’t want to miss a post, why not follow Whisky Lady on:

Penderyn Dragon Range – Myth 41%

Posted on by
Reply

With no India trips in sight, I decided to go ahead and bring samples from the Penderyn Dragon range trio with me to France and Sweden… which we then decided to taste virtually late July.

Given the Dragon Range trio had Bourbon, Madeira and Peat, we decided to start with the ex-Bourbon finish. If we were to do it again, would start with the Madeira – once we’ve shared our experience with both you will understand why!

So… on to Myth matured in an ex-bourbon cask…

Penderyn Myth 41%

  • Nose – Mmmm…. apples, pears, a bit spicy, some wafts of tropical fruits, fresh grapes, toffee… increasingly sweet with vanilla, fresh baked brioche
  • Palate – More substance than expected, full of flavour with a nice bitterness too… the 2nd sip had a hint less vanilla yet the sweetness remains
  • Finish – Spice that lasts, a bit of bitter chillipepper that mellows into sweet spice

From the start this was a happy, lively summery dram, engaging on the nose, lovely on the palate… an easy enjoyable sipper. We set it aside to try the other. When we returned for a revisit – it remained just as delightful – bright, lively and fresh.

And what do the folks at Penderyn have to say?

Myth is a single malt whisky finished in a range of specially selected ex-bourbon and rejuvenated oak casks., bottled at 41% abv. (43% in the USA). This whisky has a Kosher certificate.

  • Nose: Fresh and lively, Myth has mixed citrus fruits mingling with apple, pear drops and the merest hint of tropical fruits.
  • Palate: Sweetness dominates then moves over to allow some refreshing bitterness to emerge while the mixed fruits continue to dominate the flavour.
  • Finish: Gradually all the flavours ebb away to leave memories of a lively and light style of whisky that is easy to drink.

Would we agree? Absolutely!

Welcome to the convoluted tale of how we came to taste the Penderyn Dragon range:

What about our earlier Penderyn explorations?

If you don’t want to miss a post, why not follow Whisky Lady on:

Penderyn Dragon Range – Legend, Myth, Celt

Posted on by
Reply

There we were on a virtual tasting bringing together friends in London, Paris, South of France, Germany, Mumbai… barely finished what was in front of us and already planning the next. Sounds simple enough, right?

Except our merry malty friends are now scattered around the globe with narrow options to coordinate combined virtual sessions between Brexit and Mumbai customs.

However with extremely limited travel and also the limitations of what can be personally brought across borders, purchasing 700ml seems silly! Enter an idea to either build on what was already in India or buy the same set of 200 ml bottles…

That’s what led to our plan for me to purchase a tasting set of 200 ml bottles online in Germany to send samples to Paris. I immediately thought of Penderyn as I knew the Madeira and other was safely tucked away in Mumbai… A quick online search and I found this Penderyn trio – what they call their Penderyn Dragon range:

As this wasn’t quite what was already in Mumbai, our London based malt man decided to pick up the same 200ml trio with every expectation of sharing in his April/May 2021 trip to India.

All excited, I proposed a virtual session with the folks at Penderyn! I contacted the delightful and amusing Aista Jukneviciute, Penderyn’s Blender whom I met at The Village spirits festival in February 2020. It was a resounding yes and the excitement built even further!

For those who aren’t familiar, Welsh distillery Penderyn was founded in 2004 and is headed by Laura Davies, Distillery Manager, who trained with Dr. Jim Swan. We’ve sampled only a few Penderyn over the years but have overall enjoyed our experiences, appreciating how it remains both more affordable and accessible in style.

And then conditions in India worsened with trips canceled with India travels suspended for the foreseeable future.

In the meantime, our European situation has improved, so I thought why not open this trio and bring to Paris along with other samples for our Euro ladies? If not today, sometime we  can enjoy a session… with (or without) our desi compatriots.

This followed by a trip to Sweden to meet up with another Whisky Lady… also with Penderyn samples in tow… and a plot to do a virtual session between Laholm, Paris and Nurnberg was hatched!

Even more remarkably… it happened late July! Not with the lovely folks at Penderyn as we’d prefer to ‘reserve’ that privilege to hold together with folks in India… but it still happened!

Convoluted and yet creative… just the kind of connects that weave together the fabulous whisky fabric!

If you don’t want to miss a post, why not follow Whisky Lady on:

Whisky Lady – July 2021

Posted on by
Reply

My European adventures continued – this time to Scandi country starting on the west coast hopping over to Hven – practically touching Denmark then up to the capital Stockholm on to Gavle with Mackmyra distillery.

What a time to go to Sweden! It was such a fabulous couple of days and well worth the inconveniences of traveling in COVID times.

First up was jaunt from Gothenburg to Laholm to Veen to visit Spirit of Hven where we took a distillery tour and tasted:

Then we popped over to Stockholm and from there to Gavle for a tour of Mackmyra distillery and tasting of:

I managed to catch up on some tasting notes from my June Paris trip… which began with sharing a few drams with our Euro Whisky Ladies:

Then continued with Maison Benjamin Kuentz where we sampled:

(Tasting notes shared in August!)

However I finally got around to sharing tasting notes about a sextet from German distillery St Kilian. The original plan was to go to the distillery in November 2020 – COVID dropped that idea! Then samples were sent to those who were SUPPOSED to be there. Mine didn’t quite make it in time for the online tasting. It then took me MANY months to crack them open with friends – an interesting experience which ranged from promising to a bit perplexing. I then took even more months to try and track down via two folks I knew received the same samples for more insights. As many months had elapsed with both doing such regular tastings that the details were lost. So I hope I can be forgiven for sharing minimal insights… I’m still curious enough to want to explore more – just not the peated drams!

My month closed with a wee Penderyn virtual tasting and a flight home to Mumbai!

Curious to know more? Check out a few more monthly summaries:

And if you don’t want to miss a post, why not follow Whisky Lady on:

Additionally, there are the two ‘off-shoots’ with:

St Kilian Part 2 – A curious turn

Posted on by
Reply

This is the 2nd part of six samples courtesy of St Kilian organized by Whiskey Jason. While the distillery trip was cancelled and I missed the official tasting experience, I was still super curious. 

The initial three were overall promising – particularly the 2nd sample was really enjoyable. We couldn’t wait to dive into the next ones…

4th Sample – Industrial

  • Colour – Quite pale
  • Nose – Oil refinery, heavy peat that was “in your face”, like a chemical processing plant, iodine, hot machine shop, cured leather, oily and very industrial, gun oil, adhesive, wood chips, parsley to strong cinnamon, cured meat and bacon
  • Palate – Embers in a cold fireplace, no balance, hard core metallic
  • Finish – Same

When I looked back on my notes, there was a quote… I hesitate to even share.. but the reaction to the 1st sip was “Ugh! Disgusting!” We really struggled with this one… after the really promising start with the initial three, it was such a shift in gears… a very curious turn…

5th Sample – Briney smoke

  • Nose – Butter fudge, creamy, vanilla, saline, briney fishy peat, cream of tartar
  • Palate – Spice, cinnamon, old smoke, hot buttered rum, such a contrast from the nose to discover such sweetness, heavy cinnamon
  • Finish – And yet the smoke lingers…

In this one the peat sort of snuck up on you… perhaps after the forceful peat of the previous one, this didn’t seem so strong. Yet as we sniffed and particularly after the 1st sip, the peat became stronger and stronger.

6th Sample – Pharmacy

  • Nose – Interestingly, it began light and fruity, then took a decidedly chemical bent… like an organic chemistry lab, shifting to a more medicinal direction, dish water, paper glue, rotten fruit and compost
  • Palate – Really bitter, on the front of the palate some sugars, yet at the back was tar
  • Finish – Slightly sweet

My goodness! How did it go from slightly fruity to compost and full pharmacy. 

We sat there stunned… perplexed… in such a quandary… what could the folks at St Kilian have been thinking? Clearly the direction of these drams was no accident but… why? What would posess pursuing a clearly industrial pharmaceutical bent? 

If you don’t want to miss a post, why not follow Whisky Lady on:

St Kilian Part 1 – A promising start…

Posted on by
Reply

St Kilian is one of the newer distilleries in Bavaria… I had the great pleasure to meet with a couple of folks from there together with a fellow German Sharing Angel at Nurnberg’s The Village Whisky Festival in February 2020.

Fast forward to November 2020 and there were plans to visit the distillery. I was incredibly excited to spend a weekend learning about the distillery, their processes, ideas and overall approach to whisky making.

Alas as fall progressed into winter, COVID conditions deteriorated and the trip was cancelled. However very kindly, the folks at St Kilian dispatched samples and set-up a virtual tasting. Unfortunately the samples reached me late and I also missed the virtual session too.

However, I remained very curious so on a weekend with fellow whisky enthusiasts, we cracked open the 6 bottles, split each sample into 3 and we started to explore…

1st Sample – Bursting with flavours

  • Nose – Vanilla, fruity, creamy toffee, nice bourbon cream pie… then shifted to something more herbal, vegetal with ripe tomatoes, celery… then balsam fir
  • Palate – Creamy, fruity apple, dried plums, quince, a bit raw but still interesting
  • Finish – A bit of bitter almond?

Young, till a bit fiery, scrappy… and frankly quite a promising start.

We returned after some time and it had ten on almost an artificial sweetness, candy floss and vanilla on the nose but then a biting spice on the palate with a bitter nutty finish.

2nd Sample – Tasty treat

  • Nose – Very fruity, starts with overripe bananas, then shifts into hazelnuts, back to bannoffee pie, then the nutty quality became stronger and stronger with cashew, pecan nuts adding to the hazelnut, vacillating between roasted nuts and raw nuts freshly plucked from their tree, vanilla pod, fresh resin
  • Palate – Spicy yet nothing in the slightest bit harsh! Has more substance than expected from the aroma, fuller, incredibly tasty
  • Finish – Sweet spices of cinnamon, cloves, lightly bitter

We really liked this one – it had character and remained enjoyable. Even after we set it aside for some time and returned, it was bubblegum, wintergreen oil and still delicious.

3rd Sample – Tropical punch

  • Nose – Oh my! Tropical fruits – pineapple, mango… cinnamon red candies.. very prominent banana, a hint of rubber, overall sweet with a hint of alcohol, vanilla cream, a bit of roasted chestnut, candle wax, soooo sweet… then had a hint that was almost like a bandaid adhesive 
  • Palate – Initially the bananas on the nose carried through on the palate, a hint of smoke, raw chestnut, green walnut, became sweeter and sweeter
  • Finish – Strong cinnamon finish

The colour of this last dram was quite significantly darker than the others. What was curious was the smoke. It was more like the kind of smoke that settles on the walls of a room that had someone smoke in long before rather than anything direct. 

If you don’t want to miss a post, why not follow Whisky Lady on:

Chorlton – Croftengea 13 year 53.9%

Posted on by
Reply

So there we were, one fine evening in Paris with two beautiful bottles from Chorlton‘s  La Nouvelle Vague series…  We began with the superb Orkney that surprised us with its lush complex character. We then turned to the Croftnegea…

If you aren’t immediately familiar with Croftnegea, perhaps you have heard for Loch Lomond? Just in this case it is the brand for their heavily peated version… much like Glenturret is also known as Ruadh Maor…

It was with this heavy peat expectation that I had thought to try this after the Highland Park “Orkney”. However what we discovered was quite the opposite!

As for the whisky…. read on…

Croftengea 13 years 53.9% 231 bottles

  • Colour – Bright gold
  • Nose – Pear, ripe bananas, caramel, a bit of spice, cough syrup, malty, after the 1st sip, the aromas shifted to a delightful lemon meringue pie, strawberries, subtle spice and honey
  • Palate – Buttery sweet brioche, then citrusy with light peat at the end
  • Finish – Lingers, wonderful
  • Water – Made it even more accessible and very yummy, more fresh sweet bread, lemon curd

There was such a contrast between the aromas and palate, quite dynamic on the nose and subtle yet lovely on the palate.

We set it aside and revisited comparing the glass without water which had become perfumed and sweet, citrus and sugar. The one with the water was fruitier with the peat a bit more pronounced, cinnamon mini donut, Christmas market!

What did David have to say?

Peated single malt from Captain Haddock’s favourite distillery! This one starts on a sweet note, with banana milkshake, Milky Bars and a funky sort of fruitiness on the nose. The palate starts with fudgy chocolate, soft ginger and mango, before the peat makes itself felt with light smoke and a hit of black olive saltiness. This is a hugely fun whisky, and enjoyably weird around the edges.

I purchased this in December 2020 for £62.50 plus tax and courier charges. And I am sooooooo glad I managed to grab this while it was still available!

Here is are two more from La Nouvelle Vague series:

Here is the full set of Chorlton‘s sampled til date from the L’Ancien Régime series:

If you don’t want to miss a post, why not follow Whisky Lady on:

Chorlton – Orkney 15 year 57.1%

Posted on by
Reply

This is my 2nd Chorlton from the La Nouvelle Vague series… I’ll admit that I had high expectations however this one blew us away!

While the distillery is not explicitly named, considering there are only two distilleries on Orkney Island with quite different characters, and David mentions it is the more famous of the two, it will clearly be Highland Park rather than Scapa.

As for the whisky…. read on…

Orkney 15 years 57.1% 121 bottles

  • Colour – Deep copper
  • Nose – Smoked pork? Wow! What an active aroma – jumping all over the place in an amazingly powerful way the sweet smoke was initially predominant but not alone. From strawberries to cherries, hibiscus with a bouquet of flowers, citrus then shifted to red berries or French sweet red currents, a gorgeous dessert, underlaid with old wood, dark bitter chocolate, nutty, treacle and ham
  • Palate – Fabulous! Sweet, peat, generous berries, bitter coffee, absolutely flavour packed with so many layers, complex… all on the 1st sip. As we went in for our second sip, it was meaty, spicy, some french toast drowning in maple syrup, buttered brioche, caramelized banana, honeyed ham
  • Finish – Long and strong, phenomenal, with a rich mocha coffee initially which then also morphed from coffee and chocolate to cherry
  • Water – Needed? No. However is it also brilliant with water too? Yes. We found it was even more chocolatey

Even before opening, we started speculating about the cask given its incredibly dark hue and a mere 121 bottles from a hogshead barrel which typically would produce more than double!  And then we cracked it open and were amazed at the promise shown just from the cork alone – strawberries and bubblegum!

Then to have the kaleidoscope of aromas then richly complex palate and stellar finish? We were floored. Our experience went well beyond any expectation and was decidedly different than recent brushes with Highand Park.

When we set it aside and revisited it was equally enjoyable. This time with a new briney seaside quality we missed in our earlier exploration. It is clearly a whisky to savour and enjoy – over and over!What did David have to say?

This whisky (from the more famous of the two Orkney distilleries) has been matured in a very active cask, giving it the sort of hue you might expect from first-fill bourbon. The nose has waxy citrus, sea water and sticky cherry-flavour cough syrup alongside a lightly fragrant peat smoke. The palate is oily and chewy, with stewed red berries, smouldering wood, rose petals, herbal pastilles and a long coastal finish.

I purchased this in December 2020 for £75 plus tax and courier charges, back when it was still possible to get whiskies directly from the UK.

Here are two more from the La Nouvelle Vague series:

Plus the Chorlton‘s sampled til date from the L’Ancien Régime series:

If you don’t want to miss a post, why not follow Whisky Lady on:

Arran Quarter Cask The Bothy Cask Strength 56.2%

Posted on by
Reply

Nearly a year ago I was in Scotland and one of the few distilleries I had the pleasure of visiting was Lochranza on Isle of Arran. It was a fabulous day trip with friends and well worth doing.

One whisky I tried there was their no age statement Quarter Cask – and absolutely loved it! However as I could only walk away with one bottle for Mumbai, chose one that was only available at the distillery – the gorgeous rich and intense 23 year old cask strength.

A few months later, I bought the Quarter Cask online in Germany with plans to bring it to India during my summer trip as a way to ’round out’ a no-age-statement trio – joining bottles of the Lochranza Estate and Port Finish already patiently waiting for a tasting session in my Mumbai whisky cabinet.

And then summer came with no chance of a trip home in sight, I decided to open this bottle and simply enjoy! Naturally sharing samples with my Whisky Ladies in Paris.

Whilst we had minis of the Arran vertical 14, 18, and 23-year-olds plus the Port finish, I chose to dive into this one as an appetizer before the mighty Chorlton cask strength Orkney and Loch Lomond.

So what did we think?

Arran Quarter Cask The Bothy Cask Strength 56.2%

  • Nose – Mmmm….. vanilla, sweet sponge cake, Barbados rum, fruity, honey caramelized nuts which then flipped through a combination of blanched white almonds, hazelnuts, Brazil nuts, coconut, back to honey, vanilla, pineapple upside-down cake, milk chocolate
  • Palate – A wonderful warming spice, nicely well-rounded, a much more “solid” character than anticipated from the dessert-like aromas, approachable yet with substance, oily, a touch of dark bitter chocolate, nutmeg – rich without being heavy, lightly fruity
  • Finish – Lingers with pineapple and honey, lovely and long
  • Water – While we didn’t think it needed, decided to try – and you should! It brought out buttery sweet brioche on the nose, reduced the nuttiness, amping up the fruitness, bringing out on the palate a citrus twist and orange marmalade without compromising the delicious finish

We loved it! The nose was so inviting and delicious, the palate is marvellously well balanced and the finish long and rewarding. What isn’t there to enjoy?

We set it aside for a revisit and was greeted by a delightful perfume on the nose, fabulous flavours on the palate – which much more citrus than we initially found. Loved it!

What do the folks at Arran have to say?

Our Quarter Cask expression is a complex, rich and intensely fruity Single Malt, a cask strength delight and the perfect partner to our Sherry Cask Single Malt!

The Arran Single Malt selected for this cask strength expression was initially matured in first-fill ex-Bourbon barrels for 7 years before being transferred for secondary maturation into smaller Quarter casks also made of the finest American oak for a further 2 years. The process of transferring our whisky into the smaller 125 litre sized casks for their final 2 years of maturation produces far greater contact between the whisky & oak and a faster, more intense maturation.

The end result is a full-bodied expression of Arran Single Malt combining power and finesse full of rich vanilla sweetness and bold peppery spice. Bottling at natural Cask Strength without chill-filtration or artificial colouring of any sort presents this whisky in its purest form. Small casks would have been a common feature of the Arran whisky trade in the eighteenth & nineteenth centuries as they were easier to handle and transport around the island. With our much-loved Quarter Cask expression we proudly bring this tradition back to life.

Official distillery tasting notes:

  • Nose – Apple tart, pineapple brioche
  • Palate – The citrus hallmarks of Arran welcome you, and the sweet spice of cinnamon and vanilla promises a memorable dram.
  • Finish – Sweetness, Honey, Pineapple, Vanilla, Coconut.

To be honest, we didn’t read the official tasting notes however clearly we would completely agree!

This expression is available from the distillery for GBP 50 and I bought it in Germany for EUR 53.56.

Ad arran quarter cask bottle box product detail rebrand

What else have we recently tried from Arran?

If you don’t want to miss a post, why not follow Whisky Lady on: