How Welsh whisky is taking a sip of Scotland’s favourite dram
North Wales is celebrating the opening of its latest distillery and the release of the first Welsh whisky in over a hundred years.
Gwynedd’s Aber Falls Distillery, which used to be a slate works, a margarine factory and a drinks wholesaler depot, has launched its Inaugural Release, a non-age statement single malt made from 100 per cent Welsh malted barley and water from the nearby Rhaeadr Fawr waterfall. It is the first of many age-declared whiskies and special editions planned for the future.
Exactly 2,000 bottles of the whisky have been made available, with further releases planned for September and spring 2022, as well as the launch of a Welsh rye whisky. Aber Falls also has special single cask releases planned and a distiller’s cut. It has recently partnered with the Royal Fusiliers on an official, limited release called Black Flash, named after the regiment’s uniform.
The distillery, at Abergwyngregyn in the foothills of the Snowdonia mountains, is involved in a research programme with nearby Bangor University to study different strains of barley that could be grown in Wales.
“We have 135 brewers in Wales and four grain distillers,” says MD James Wright. “With European yields going down as it gets warmer, it makes sense to grow a crop that is pretty hardy. It’s also a win-win: with the right yield it can go into the food chain, and by-products can also be added to the food chain.”
Dr Kirsty McCallum, master blender at Aber Falls, says: “Our setting is so unique, nestled between the Menai Straits and the Carneddau mountain range, offering a remote microclimate, creating the ideal conditions to influence the character of the whisky.”
Wales claims to have produced the first alcoholic spirit in the British Isles. The monks of Bardsey Island or Ynys Enlli (the island of the saints or bards), produced a spirit in 356 AD called “Chwisgi”, a type of honey mead. The founders of Jack Daniel’s and Evan Williams Bourbon were of Welsh descent.
The original 1890 Welsh Whisky distillery at Frongoch, which made Royal Welsh Whisky, closed over a century ago due to prohibition. It received a royal warrant from Queen Victoria in 1895 and was used as a prison for many involved in the 1916 Easter Rising, including Michael Collins.
With exports to nearly fifty countries, Welsh whisky makers are campaigning for Geographical Indicator status, with Penderyn Distillery’s CEO Stephen Davies among the leading voices.
Celebrating its 20th anniversary, Penderyn has just opened a second distillery at Llandudno. The original Cynon Valley distillery in south Wales in 2004 produced the first Welsh whisky for a century. The new facility is in a Grade II listed Old Board School built in 1887, now featuring a signature single-column Faraday still, which produces whisky at an industry high of 92% ABV. For the first time in Welsh history it is set to produce a peated barley single malt whisky.
“We look forward to taking Penderyn to even newer heights when Penderyn opens a third distillery in the Swansea Hafod Copperworks development,” says Davies.
In Carmarthenshire, near the National Botanic Garden of Wales, lies the Coles Distillery operated by the Coles family, who have run the White Hart Thatched Inn & Brewery in the village of Llanddarog for three decades. “We visited someone up in the wilds near Lampeter who made moonshine to take a look at his still, and after that, we made our own 3,000 litre still,” says Marcus Cole. The Coles made the first Welsh rum and in 2020 their first batch of whisky became available for purchase.
“Coles whisky is unique because we are a small producer and we can experiment with different mash recipes such as rye, plated malts, corn whisky and even different wooden barrels such as French oak, American oak, Chestnut wood, Madeira barrels and sherry barrels,” says Marcus.