Review by: Raygun

A quick note before anything else for the sake of transparency. This review was done with an industry sample provided free of charge, with no expectations beyond drinking them. As always, I do my best to provide my unbiased opinion, and readers can decide how they want to take this review. For more information, see our Ethics & Transparency statement.

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Penderyn was founded in 2000, the first whisky distillery in Wales in over a century. Penderyn has two Faraday stills, an unusual design that’s sort of a hybrid between a pot and column still, allowing complete distillation from a single still. They also have two standard pot stills, and sometimes use a mix of both. This is one of a number of casks selected by La Maison du Whisky for their Ex Libris line of world whiskies, and are named after famous Welsh books. Rested about 15 minutes. Reviewed from a sample. 

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Distillery: Penderyn 

Bottler: La Maison du Whisky, Ex Libris series 

Region/style: Welsh single malt 

ABV: 60.1%

Age: 12 years. Distilled in 2010 and bottled in 2023.  

Cask type: Second-fill bourbon cask, #279/2010. 215 bottles.

Color: 0.3 pale gold. Natural color. Non-chill-filtered.

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Nose: Malty, with a touch of gingerbread and something vegetal at first. Then some nice tropical fruit comes out. Passion fruit, lime, rambutan.   

Palate: Interesting. The tropical fruit is there, but also strongly minty. With some sage. Passion fruit, rambutan, and quite a bit of wood. Cedar mixed with oak. Little bit of chocolate mingles with the mint. Even more tropical with some water. 

Finish: Malty and minty, which is not a combination that often comes up. The wood flavors get stronger. Shortbread with some chocolate. A little fruit, but more about the wood here. Water brings back the fruit and intensifies the chocolate.

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Conclusion: Interesting first experiences with Penderyn. The minty flavor in particular was unusual. An effect of the Faraday still? The type of barley they use? I have no idea. Whatever it is, I enjoyed it. Recognizably malt whisky, but with some unique aspects. I’m a sucker for tropical fruit flavors, so this was very much my sort of thing.

Buy a bottle? Would depend on price, and knowing LMDW, these won’t be cheap.

Score: 82

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Scoring Legend:

• 95-100: As good as it gets. Jaw-dropping, eye-widening, unforgettable whisky.
• 90-94: Sublime, a personal favorite in its category. (Kavalan Solist Manzanilla)
• 85-89: Excellent, a standout dram. (Kavalan Solist Vinho Barrique)
• 80-84: Quite good. Quality stuff. (Green Spot Chateau Leoville Barton)
• 75-79: Decent whisky worth tasting. (Amrut Peated CS)
• 70-74: Meh. It’s definitely drinkable, but it can do better. (Taketsuru Pure Malt)
• 60-69: Not so good. I might not turn down a glass if I needed a drink. (Hakushu Distiller’s Reserve)
• 50-59: Save it for mixing. (Bushmills 10 Malt)
• 0-49: Blech.