Penderyn Madeira review #30 with The Whiskey Novice

[@jamesaitken4230]

Pear drops 100%. Got this at first but faded.As a novice i'd say your description of this whisky is spot on and agree totaly with your comparison with grain whisky. One of the best whisky reviews i have saw online. I am very impressed

[@WhiskeyNovice]

Thank you James. I recently went back and tried this again to see if the whisky or my opinion had changed. The answer was no. Opinion stands. Cheers buddy.

[@WhiskeyStraightAl]

Super slick presentation Jim and a great breakdown of the whisky with your tasting notes. Cheers.

[@WhiskeyNovice]

Cheers Alan. Not sure everyone agrees with my view of this whisky but hey....as always...personal opinions don't necessarily line up.

[@joeberth-jones1910]

Keep doing what you're doing... great content mate!

[@WhiskeyNovice]

Cheers buddy.

[@davidowen2834]

Good explanation of the whisky. Got a bottle of a port matured pendeyern at home not opened. It is a fancy bottle isn't it,could be used as an infinity bottle. Stay healthy.

[@WhiskeyNovice]

Cheers David. Penderyn certainly seems to have a wide fan-base and I won't be shying away from other bottlings. I just found this one a little sweet for my palate. Take care mate.

[@BartoniGaming]

Great bottle and abv at 46%.

[@CruiseDomandHelen]

Thanks Jim. Happy to say I'm Penderyn 'fanboy'

[@WhiskeyNovice]

Cheers Dom. Yeah I knew you liked it. I'd definately go back and try others and I know this is well liked by lots of other people. I just found it too sweet. Cheers buddy.

[@paulgibbs3624]

Great review Jim. I'm ok with Penderyn, when I'm sipping Penderyn, or an easy blended scotch. But this is a starter to a flight for me bud. Especially if I'm going onto higher strength scotch. Love what your doing bud 👍

[@WhiskeyNovice]

Cheers Paul. Yeah it would appear Penderyn definately has a lot of fans, from the comments I've received 😄. I just found this a little too sweet for my palate.

[@WhiskyJason1]

6.5 ist still a fairly high mark for this - could you explain your grading system?

[@WhiskeyNovice]

6.5 out of 10 is pretty low for me Jason. I rarely drop close to 5 or below. The flavour of this whisky let it down for me but I'll always award for good presentation. Had this been coloured, chill-filtered and bottled at 40%, I would probably have given it 5.5 out of 10. Honestly, it's a number and an opinion but I'd likd to think, that the more reviews I do, the more ratings I'll have to compare with each other. You've caught me out a bit my friend. I sort of give ratings which feel right to me.

[@WhiskyJason1]

@@WhiskeyNovice dumb question - if you don't use 0-5 then why even have a 0-10 scale?

[@WhiskeyNovice]

@@WhiskyJason1 no you're perfectly right to ask Jason. Honestly...I don't know why I started rating at all and may actually leave it out again. You are right also about the range of the scale. I pretty much look at the whisky I'm reviewing and think "on a scale of 1 to 10...how good is this, in my opinion?" That's why I gave Douglas Laing's Rock Oyster CS 10 out of 10. I couldn't find fault with it. But then why was the Kilkerran only 9.5 out of 10? Well...it was great...but not just as great as that Rock Oyster (in my opinion). If (and it is a big if) I do keep rating...the more whiskys I review, the more chance there will be for some to go below 5 I think. Woodford Reserve bourbon was nearly down there for me. Auchentoshan American Oak would be another sub 5 in my opinion, just as an example. But you are very right Jason. It's something I have to think about. Cheers buddy.

[@maltymission]

cheers Jim, Penderyn are getting quite a bit of attention recently, particulalrly with this expression. Heard mix reactions to this, would you agree this is a 'try before you buy' bottle?

[@WhiskeyNovice]

Cheers Menno. Yes definately. As always, this was just my point of view and this whisky wouldn't stop me trying other Penderyn offerings. They now have some classic pot stills in their distillery so it will be interesting to see what they produce using them.

[@budj13]

Thanks for the review of Penderyn! Being of Welsh decent I've been wondering about this one. Too bad it is only a "questionable" product. Are there any good Welsh whisky that you know of? Keep up the good work, Jim.

[@WhiskeyNovice]

Cheers Bud. In fairness this is only my opinion and there seem to be lots of other folk who love this expression. It's also worth looking at other expressions from Penderyn. They are very well thought of. There is a distillery in North Wales called Aber Falls but I haven't heard any reports on their whisky. Always worth being open minded with any of them. Thanks for the comment my friend.

[@Biefie]

Hi Jim....6,5 ....from 10? does that mean 65 out of the 100? Greetings Frank S.

[@WhiskeyNovice]

Hi Frank. As I said to WhiskyJason in another comment, my ratings are mostly over 5 out of 10. It's a rating system that hopefully, as time goes on and I add more reviews, will start to show more structure. A 10 out 10 whisky, for me, is one that I can't find fault with. 5 out of 10 is one that I haven't enjoyed. Below 5 would have something severely wrong with it. All just personal opinion though. Thanks for the comment.

[@GregsWhiskyGuide]

Great review there Jim...Me I think the "green" part of it (rather than "grain" for me, having tasted a lot of single grains that's why I differ a bit from your opinion here even if I understand why you say that and that it is in a way close to vodka at an unaged stage) might be due to youth of the maturation plus youth of the Madeira used probably. This is also a very ester driven malt, hence these notes of acetone & green apples (I'll say Granny Smith ones) you get, then yes it is a bit harsh & young, but I like it, but will probably not rate it much more than you. I prefer by far the Sherry Wood personally (have you tasted it?) and some single casks or special limited expressions ("Rich Oak" for instance), but I have to say this Madeira is still better in my opinion than the younger recent expression called "Legend", "Myth" & "Celt". Also frankly me I hate the new "squarrish" packaging & prefer the older told elegant bottle shape (just my opinion), Cheers Jim & keep up the good work ! PS : Forgot to mention a nice find note ("custard powder" ! )

[@WhiskeyNovice]

Cheers Greg. No haven't had any other Penderyn offerings yet but will hopefully try them at some point. Yes you're possibly correct about the maturation. I think they may be using poor quality casks. Thanks again buddy.

[@GregsWhiskyGuide]

@@WhiskeyNovice You're very welcome...I'm curious of your opinion about the Sherry Wood (I like to put this one in a private tasting set as a blind one, it is 90 % of the time appreciated & not guessed as a Welsh whisky). You might be right on the cask in terms of many fills maturation. Forgot also to mention your cool "Hollywood" intro lol, good fun...👍

[@danielegiuseppepalmer2407]

I disagree. It's a respectable whisky, one to have in your liquor cabinet. Granted it's not in the upper echelons, but is a good baseline.

[@parmdeeppuri2981]

Just cancelled my amazon order