An easy-to-love combination of honey, ground almond, meringue, fudge, nutmeg, Horlicks, and vanilla ice cream on the nose. This really hits its stride the longer you savor it, beginning with apple juice, brown sugar, nutty fudge, and spices—cinnamon, pepper, clove, and chile—then serves up notes of apple pie with a sweet pastry crust, becoming appetizingly malty and ending with Penderyn’s characteristically dry finish. (U.S. exclusive, 1,207 bottles)

Reviewed by: Jonny McCormick (Spring 2022)

Chocolate, rich berry fruit, honeydew, green grape, oat cookies, dark toffee, and oak spices on the nose. Flavors of chocolate flakes, Oreo, cinnamon, malt, and hazelnut, with a concentration of spices on the tip of the tongue, before a flavorsome finish of Hershey bars. It’s delicious and well-made, but occupies a very specific place on the flavor spectrum, so one to try before you buy.(792 bottles for U.S.)

Reviewed by: Jonny McCormick (Winter 2019)

This nugget of Welsh gold has a nose of candied orange and lemon slices, toasted spices, herb garden, light vanilla, and the oils of finely shredded peel. On the palate, there’s toffee and orange cake, an array of tropical fruits with papaya and passion fruit sweetness, and a good thrust of pepper and clove, leaving just a hint of grated chocolate and cask char in a dry finish.

Reviewed by: Jonny McCormick (Fall 2019)

Fresh fruits, satsuma peel, lime zest, pear, lemon meringue pie, and a cheeky burst of spices in this red wine and American oak bourbon barrel-finished whisky. Marshmallow softness, with apple, cooked Jell-O, and cherry slam into fruit-skin bitterness, chicory root, and aniseed, descending into spicy bitter fruit flavors. This perks the palate up no end. Oak seems to hold stronger cards than the wine soaked into the staves.

Reviewed by: Jonny McCormick (Fall 2018)

This madeira-finished whisky delivers a beautiful combination of crunchy red apple, dried apple rings, toasted oak, cubes of vanilla fudge, honey, and dabs of orange. It’s a friendly dram and it draws you in; attractive but not flashy or abundantly fragrant. Soft fruits, though not instantly sweet, accompanied by vegetal notes, almonds, and some spicy bitterness, with ginger, pepper, and clove encircling the tongue.

Reviewed by: Jonny McCormick (Fall 2018)

At present this is a distillery-only bottling, but we need to start a campaign to get it on general release, because it is a modestly-priced gem of a malt whisky. This is fruit compote in a glass, with blueberry, blackberry, rose petal talcum powder, and redcurrant on the nose, and strawberry jam and summer fruit cordial on the palate. It's a palate cleanser, all soft, fresh, and fruity. Summer's arrived early. £30

Reviewed by: Dominic Roskrow (Spring 2012)

A distillery-only bottling last year, and I'm delighted it's now more widely available. Penderyn is as brash about portwood as the Aussies, and this has a rich, creamy, and sweet liqueur-like taste, with blackcurrant to the fore. It's a delight. Penderyn is bottled in batches, so this is a different version from last year’s, but it's close. I called it fruit compote in a glass. £36

Reviewed by: Dominic Roskrow (Spring 2013)

This whisky has no age statement, but it is only several years old. It’s also finished off in a Madeira cask. Nicely matured for its age; perhaps, in part, due to its unique copper distillation system. It’s a soft whisky, with layers of creamy sweetness (vanilla, toffee), delicate fruit (coconut, blueberry, black raspberry), and almond, with a little youthful heat on the finish. Already pleasant, this whisky should only need a few more years to reach full maturity.

Reviewed by: John Hansell (Fall 2006)

The original Penderyn is finished in Madeira casks. I like the original better (which I rated an 84), as it tastes more mature and the Madeira seems to dovetail better with the other flavors. Fruity (red raspberry, strawberry, banana), with underlying sweet notes (honeyed vanilla, caramel, a hint of butterscotch). Quick, clean finish. Maybe this whisky just needed a little more aging for everything to come together?

Reviewed by: John Hansell (Winter 2010)

This edition was matured in bourbon but finished in Madeira casks, which lends it a honeyed, sweet nose of cream soda, lychee, whole almond, and dried tropical fruit. Smartly, the finishing cask gives a lift but never dominates. A fresh, clean taste, but the mouthfeel has a frailty, so although you will find lemon, icing sugar, candy bananas, and molten honey, this doesn’t quite live up to its rousing name. £31

Reviewed by: Jonny McCormick (Spring 2015)

My feelings here are the same as for the Sherrywood: it comes across as younger and less mature than the original Madeira wood finish version. This one has some peat smoke in the mix. Malty sweet (with some graham cracker, nougat, and hints of butterscotch), peppered with light smoke. Quick, lightly smoky finish.

Reviewed by: John Hansell (Winter 2010)