Enchanting and bursting with character: On the nose, vanilla cupcakes zested with lemon, sweet strawberries on angel food cake, blueberry-cinnamon syrup, toasted oats, and woodsy spices of cedar, sandalwood, and nutmeg. The full-bodied palate is alive with tropical and citrus fruits—kiwi, papaya, mango, pomelo, grapefruit, satsuma—but braced by a malty backbone, nutty and spiced. After all that excitement, the finish is practically sedate, calmly wrapping up with clean malt and a whiff of fruit. Water is a must to fully unlock the flavors. (114 bottles)

Reviewed by: Susannah Skiver Barton (Spring 2021)

When you feel you’ve earned a treat, pour a dram of this bottled candy. The nose is a tropical fruit basket, with papaya, guava, mango, jackfruit, and dried kiwi; extra goodies come in the form of Jordan almonds and vanilla sandwich cookies. Consistent tropical flavors on the silky palate. Nuttiness, gentle spice, milk chocolate, and coffee bean emerge with water. Intensely satisfying on the finish, with persistent fruit, integrated oak, almonds, and grapefruit peel. (243 bottles; U.S. exclusive)

Reviewed by: Susannah Skiver Barton (Summer 2020)

Deep polished chestnut color with a nutty nose of dried apple, blueberry syrup, clove, and cinnamon; the high alcohol mingles with scents of walnut, hazelnut, and soy sauce. The deep berry flavors burst with black cherry, crème de cassis, chocolate, peppercorn, and an exceptional mint leaf note. Despite the strength, it’s seductively irresistible and a whisky you’ll return to time after time. (232 bottles)

Reviewed by: Jonny McCormick (Spring 2021)

Rosy red apples, damson jam, quince jelly, piquant spices, pomegranate juice, and cracked black pepper on the nose. The palate dutifully follows suit with cherry, red apple, cranberry, blackberry, and raspberry until overwhelmed by high-strength alcohol, bristling with clove, pepper, and ginger spices. Lastly, a vanilla-cupcake sweetness is enhanced by cooked apple, while water conjures up a delicious watermelon note, with a finish of overbaked deep-dish apple pie. (251 bottles)

Reviewed by: Jonny McCormick (Spring 2020)

An implacable tide of sherry aromas, succulent sultana and currant fruit, dried apple, bara brith tea cake, treacle, black tea, and fabulous baking spices: cinnamon, nutmeg, and clove. A thick, chewy, malty mouthful with chocolate, Horlicks, coffee notes, and that well-honed Penderyn spice character woven in among the dark fruit. A sweet swan song of clove and peppercorn meets espresso, molasses, dark toffee, and burnt staves. Quite a gem, this one. (600 bottles for U.S.)

Reviewed by: Jonny McCormick (Winter 2018)

This smooth after-dinner dram has a nose that promises black currant mousse, red cherry, malt loaf, bread-and-butter pudding, and marzipan fruits, with just a frisson of baking spices. Executing a fine balance between fruitiness and spice, the palate negotiates a rollercoaster of red berries, fig, clove, cinnamon, black coffee, dark toffee, and milk chocolate, sliding to a halt with pepper-dusted chocolate-dipped berries. (3,000 bottles)

Reviewed by: Jonny McCormick (Summer 2022)

This is a big ride, with incoming flavors from the four different types of casks used: bourbon; shaved, toasted, and re-charred; ruby port; and carcavelos wine. On the nose, there’s pear, vanilla, cream, honey sweetness, shortbread, barley, lemon, and a generous sprinkle of peppery spice. Lap it up at full strength with flavors of sweet vanilla, apricot, citrus peel, and raspberry, followed by a peak of peppery spice, then fruit jelly beans and gingersnaps. (1,210 bottles)

Reviewed by: Jonny McCormick (Fall 2022)

Plenty of complexity, with marmalade, vanilla, and dried apricot on the nose, plus an undercurrent of curry spices, red chiles, and black pepper. That baked orange note shines through on the palate, with vanilla sponge, marmalade, and brown sugar, until black pepper begins to dominate, leaving thick, velvety melted chocolate in its wake, then a short dry finish. You can fast-forward to the chocolate part by adding water. (268 bottles)

Reviewed by: Jonny McCormick (Spring 2022)

Subtle, well-judged port cask influence integrates well with the Penderyn spirit to produce an entrancing whisky. Substantial aromas of chocolate, dried fruits, dates, cocoa, snuff, and a prickle of spices rise from the glass. There’s good weight in the mouth, with flavors of chocolate, gingersnap, dates, dried cranberry, forest honey, a supportive chorus of spices, and a heavenly finish of dark sweet fruits. (792 bottles for U.S.)

Reviewed by: Jonny McCormick (Winter 2019)

Blender Aista Jukneviciute finishes Celt in peated Islay quarter casks that enable the sooty charcoal smoke and maritime notes to sink their claws into the fresh lemon, mandarin, and buttery, toasty aromas. Penderyn, the best known of the small but growing number of Welsh distilleries, is in the process of constructing a second distillery with a visitor center in Swansea anticipated to open in 2021 and has proposed a third facility for Llandudno. Sweet citrus, dark fruits, chocolate, and spicy smoke linger on the finish. Forget Daenerys, this is the whisky of dragons. Number 17 in the 2018 Top 20 

Reviewed by: Jonny McCormick (Winter 2018)

A good single cask pick should stand up proudly at cask strength yet still show plenty of character after dilution: This aged Welsh whisky does both superbly. Aromas of stewed rhubarb, cherry syrup, five spice, fresh oak, ripening black currants, and ground ginger. It opens with sweet flavors of lemon shortbread, vanilla, cherry gummy bears, and raspberry, building to a climax of clove, cinnamon bark, and tannic fruit skins. Don’t miss!

Reviewed by: Jonny McCormick (Summer 2021)

No prizes for guessing where the peated Islay quarter casks used for finishing came from, but this beautiful whisky has firm, sooty charcoal smoke, impressive maritime characteristics, and aromas of fresh lemon, mandarin, and buttered toast. Sweet citrus with a buttery mouthfeel, and generous smoke and spice. Beautifully weighted, it ends with darker fruits, chocolate, and spicy smoke on the finish. Love it!

Reviewed by: Jonny McCormick (Fall 2018)

Produced in Penderyn’s Faraday still, the nose detects rose water, incense sticks, red grape, nutmeg, charred oak, and a hint of treacle. At full strength, intense peppery spice whirls around flavors of red berries, black cherry, and cranberry, diluting to unearth black currant, black coffee, oak, and chocolate sprinkles. The finish is dry, like a shot of espresso. Water unlocks greater red fruitiness from the port cask, adding brighter cherry and sweet watermelon notes. (300 bottles)

Reviewed by: Jonny McCormick (Spring 2022)

The unusual distilling process and some maturation in Madeira casks has given standard Penderyn a liqueur-like, perfumey quality many whisky fans don’t care for. This is a single bourbon cask bottling of the 11th cask the distillery ever filled, to mark its 10th anniversary, and is less cloying, less feminine, and more gutsy than the standard version. It’s also very palatable and of excellent quality. Some will make it to America, but the price tag will deter all but the most passionate.

Reviewed by: Dominic Roskrow (Summer 2011)

This rather good after-dinner dram is finished in peated Islay whisky casks. It is not a peated Welsh whisky, but don’t let that stop you. With its refreshing aromas of lemon floor polish, pine needles, gentle antiseptic, smoked fish, and breezy beach bonfires, we can cheerfully drop the pedantic objections to its name. This successfully delivers a wallop of spicy smoke, lemon, and vanilla biscuits, a bit like consuming creamy rice pudding beside a smoking peat kiln.(396 bottles for U.S.)

Reviewed by: Jonny McCormick (Winter 2019)

Penderyn quotes a respected writer on its website, saying that no one does port-influenced whisky better. This bottling certainly makes the claim. It was a single cask, but there have been others equally as impressive, and there will be more. This is brash, colorful, unsubtle, and a bit daft — so was comedian Tommy Cooper — but still unforgettable and easy to fall in love with. 256 bottles. £146

Reviewed by: Dominic Roskrow (Spring 2013)

Penderyn will miss distiller Gillian MacDonald, who has gone to work at Glenmorangie, because it has been moving up the gears of late. This is a traveling circus of a whisky, with all sorts of oral treats to keep you entertained. It's not for the faint-hearted. There are rich stewed fruits, baked apple, blueberries, and spirit-soaked black and red berries all delivered with a power punch. Great. £30

Reviewed by: Dominic Roskrow (Summer 2012)

This one comes out fighting, with notes of pepper, red chiles, leather boots, cherry stone, church candles, and black currant on the nose. At full strength, it’s wild and untamed, with flavors of Cherryade, strawberry syrup, cough syrup, gingersnaps, and an uppercut of pepper and clove. Quenched with water, it’s much less combative, and while on its best behavior, it delivers fruity milk chocolate and coffee notes. (U.S. exclusive; 258 bottles)

Reviewed by: Jonny McCormick (Fall 2021)