Whisky : Penderyn 12 Year; Impex Cask Selection

Country/Region : Wales

ABV : 60.4%

Cask : Ex-Bourbon/Port Cask Finish

Nose : Bursting with candied caramel apple, sour crab apple, butterscotch, and candied ginger.  Cosmetics, potpourri, leather shoes, and lacquered wood emerge with some time to rest.  

Palate : Medium bodied with a nice oiliness and quickly developing astringency— this is dry.  Candied ginger, Saigon cinnamon, and dried citrus rinds.  Apple sauce and honey on corn bread, poached fruits, and malty sugars come near the mid palate. Bit of heat on the back along with brown sugar, molasses, and leather.

Finish : Lingering tannic dryness with cinnamon and warm baking spices.

Score : 5

Mental Image : Tennis Club Powder Room

Something Better : Longmorn 15 Year SMWS 7.226 (similar apples/spices, more fruits/juice)

Something Similar : Peat Faerie 3rd ed. (similar apple sauce/vanilla/sugars, sweeter  nose)

Notes : When I initially tasted this blind I could not decide if it was single malt finished in a port or sauternes wine cask, or, cognac.  It had some interesting herbal sweet notes along with a nice sweet-sour fruit aroma, but overall this was way too tannic for my taste.  That said, I was actually pretty impressed once I found out what I was tasting.  I had never had Penderyn before and this bottle made for quite an interesting introduction.  It was just as syrupy and fruity as I had been told to expect from the distillery, but there was a lot of additional complexity that made this fun to try out.  While I cannot ever see buying this bottle— I would rather just grab cognac— I would happily drink this again if offered.  I have a feeling it might pair really well with some lemon and butter pasta or carbonara.