Penderyn 10 year Madeira Cask Strength

Nose - apricot, cereal grain, plum, cherry, guava, orange, caramel, vanilla, allspice, tomato, light sulphur, grass, powdered sugar, mild to moderate ethanol burn. Taste - apricot, orange pith, plum, sour apple, tannic oak, cereal grain, allspice, light sulphur, bitter herbal notes, caramel, vanilla, lemon, moderate alcohol bite, finishing medium short with stone fruit, citrus pith, and tannic oak flavors. Coming off the 12 Year Ruby Cask, I’m hoping the rest of the Penderyns on deck will be more palatable. The nose is very fruity. It’s obviously a heavily finished single malt. There’s some marked graininess alongside citrus and an acidic quality that reminds me of tomato. The palate carries the same fruitiness, but it’s unfortunately bitter and slightly sour. There’s a touch of sulphur as well. The finish is relatively short and drying. This isn’t as violently bitter as the 12 Year Ruby Cask, but it unfortunately has some of the same bitterness and youth. Overall this is a few steps up. It’s good whiskey, but it just barely makes the grade for me. A big thank you to @pkingmartin for the generous sample!

Amber-orange in the glass with sparse, quick legs. Another wonderful pour thanks to @pkingmartin. As usual I’ve blinded myself to remain objective. Could it be from Scotland? Wales? Texas? Mexico? I have no idea at this point… Right out of the glass I get canned peaches in syrup. There’s a bit of apple cider and cola that follow. Outright bonkers. Not funky or old, just an interesting mix of aromas. Sort of like a state fair. Pre-test probability and the availability heuristic make me think this is another Penderyn. With cognitive bias out of the way, I could even believe this is brandy and not scotch. It’s so fruity. There are slightly astringent oak notes as well as vanilla extract, maybe a bit of cacao nibs or even blonde espresso. Hot! Also, this is a bit thin, but so be it. The fruit hits up front, bright and acidic. Then a swell of buttery notes come around that weren’t expected, then some rather jammy bits and some wine-finish rancio. I would venture to say this is a wine cask finish whisky because on the second sip, before the air makes it into my mouth and as long as I can hold it before the burn wins – there is a really nice base of less astringent, soft oak and caramel. It’s quickly overcome by the wave of fruit, butter (maybe even ghee) and then nuts, cola and jammy wine finish. I’m gonna go all in on this being red wine-barrel finished. I would guess that maturation is curtesy of first-fill ex-bourbon but those caramel flavors just get blown out. Answer – Penderyn 10y Maderia cask strength. Sometimes cognitive bases serve a purpose. I never would have guessed anything close without having recently tried another cask strength Penderyn. The DNA is clearly the same but the wine is much more present here. Reading over notes from @pkingmartin, @contemplativefox and @pbmichiganwolverine the guava is now readily apparent and the Sweedish Fish is pretty dead on as well. Nuts stuff, never would have guessed 10 years. I’m not sure the Maderia works for me but it might for plenty of others. Regardless, this is an incredibly interesting and in your face pour!

Ever visited a place twice, the first time being at least a decade before? Hating it the first time, but loving it the second time around? For me, that was Mumbai. My first visit was a nightmare. It was overcrowded, the air was putrid, the skies grey, and streets filled with homelessness. About a decade later, I visited again. This time, I found how things were balanced, and in that balance, you simply had to look to find the beauty. The air wasn’t putrid. It was instead aromas of spices and street food—-golgappa stands, roasted corn stalls, and open markets selling cumin and turmeric. The streets had homelessness, but towering above the shanty towns were multi-billion dollar homes built of marble and stone. Yes, the skies were grey, but the monsoons bought this lush petrichor. That’s my experience with Penderyn. I last had a Penderyn maybe 9-10 years ago. At the time, I wasn’t impressed. One bad experience, and I had written them off. It was just too bland, bread-y, and light. But this one, this is something totally different. Gone is the boring bread-y taste. Now, I’m getting guavas galore. If you don’t like guavas, stay away from this. But if you’re a fan...this is knee deep in freshly cut guavas. Long finish...more fruits, this time Asian pears. Just really well made. Huge thanks to @pkingmartin for sharing a generous sample.

Rating: 21/23 N: There's an interesting syrupy richness here that makes me think of a port finish. Specifically, it's reminding me of Kavalan Soloist Port. It's balanced with sweet, tart, and rich fruit. I get candied orange peel, but also just straight-up oily orange peel. I get a dash of something in the cherry spectrum as well, but not so much. There's something a little spicy in here as well and a richness that I'm struggling to place. P: Wow! This is big and bold! It's bursting with flavor. The richness here is incredible. It's almost syrupy, but also terrifically balanced. I get the orange flavors from the nose with a bigger emphasis on the oily peel and tremendous port sweetness and richness, as well as some bold but restrained woody bitterness and mature tartness to balance this all out. I get a little bit of cocoa at one moment, but it doesn't start to taste chocolatey. F: It's a nicely balanced finish. That port flavor sticks around and it stays pretty strong. There's a sort of sticky sweetness balanced by some tartness and rich bitterness. - Conclusion - This has a way bolder flavor than I'd expected from a 10 year old Welsh Scotch. If you'd told me that this was 10 years old and asked me where it was from, I would have guessed Southeast Asia (with the US as a second choice, I guess). Why is 10 year old scotch never this full of flavor? The quality of flavor is terrific, as is the balance. To compare with another madieraed malt whisk(e)y, this is way full, bolder, and more complex than Tyrconnell 15 Madiera. This is clearly quite superior. I'm looking at no less than a 19 for this for sure. I think a 22 might be pushing it and I can't see a 23, but a 21 is definitely possible. Side-by-side with my bottle of Kavalan Soloist Port Cask, this is clearly less bold and mature, with more of a fruity sweetness. That doesn't leave me thinking "oh wow, the Kavalan is vastly superior" though. Comparing the two reminds me a bit of comparing A De Fussigny XO (this) with Delord 25 (Kavalan). While I gave the nod to the Delord and think I'll be doing the same with the Kavalan, the two ended up quite close. I currently have the Kavalan at a 20, which I think might be a tad low. I'm thinking of going with a 20 for this too, with the Kavalan possibly getting bumped up to a 21 in the future. I don't know, I kind of want to give this a 21 right now. Let's go a little off the rails here. How does this compare with A De Fussigny XO? Well, I think that the A De Fussigny is more refined and floral with a lot less fullness (in no way surprising). This is kind of half way between that and the Kavalan. I'm sort of tempted to mix the two to compare with this, but also I'd die a little inside. OK, I did it. I tried half a milliliter of the Kavalan with 1 milliliter of the A De Fussigny. First off, it was terrific. Second off, it was closer to this than either of them was, but it was also not nearly as full of sticky fruit (it was more woody and floral). The astounding thing is that this absolutely held its own in that head-to-head. OK, taking a bit of a moonshot here: I've got this side-by-side with Glenfarclas 25 (one of my all-time favorites, which I currently have at a 23/23). My immediate reactions are two-fold: (1) The Glenfarclas is more complex and sophisticated (2) The lower proof on the the Glenfarclas really sticks out here and makes me wonder whether I should lower its score and reserve the 23 for a Glenfarclas 25 Cask Strength. I think that between the two I prefer the Glenfarclas, but this is much closer than I had ever expected. I had been thinking that this was in the 19 to 21 range previously, with 22 being a pipe dream, but now I'm thinking a 20 or 21. A 22 still seems unlikely here, but I wouldn't bet the farm against it at this point. I'm frankly baffled by how good this is. OK, I'm now thinking in the 21 to 22 range. I think I need to go with a 21. Huge thanks to @pkingmartin for sharing a sample of this one!

Nine years ago I had my first taste of Penderyn whiskey and have to say it was not something I cared for or wanted to try again until I heard about this cask strength Madeira finish. This is a fruity whiskey. I’m not sure this is for everyone but definitely interesting. The first smell is pure guava fruit with vanilla almond cookies. I’d even say this reminds me of the taste of Swedish fish candy. Then you revisit and get dried kiwi, cotton candy, raspberry jam. The tastes follow the same as the nose with explosion of all the flavors and a medium finish. If you’re looking for a fruity treat, this whiskey is for you. Glad Penderyn has improved over the years and glad I tried this one.