Penderyn revives a Welsh whisky-making tradition

Small independent firm the Welsh Whisky Company, based in the Brecon Beacons, is launching Penderyn single malt into a multi-million pound market dominated by drinks from Scotland and Ireland.

Wales once had a vibrant whisky industry which declined during the Welsh religious revival and temperance movement of the 19th Century.

The last commercial distillery, at Bala, north Wales, closed at the end of the 1800s.

But the tradition is being revived with the launch of the malt on Wales' national day - 1 March.

First bottles

The Welsh Whisky Company employs 15 people who will produce 75,000 bottles of the whisky a year at the Gwalia Distillery at the village of Penderyn in the Brecon Beacons National Park.

But just 6,000 bottles of the whisky will initially be available when it is released for sale on Monday.

The first bottles to be sold will be four years old, to be followed by older releases in subsequent years.

The drink is being marketed as "distinctively different" from scotch and is made from Welsh spring water, matured in bourbon casks and finished in Madeira barrels.