As you probably know, the AC featured on the branding of our Penderyn Single Malt Whisky stands for the 'Aur Cymru' which translates as 'Welsh Gold'. The term is more appropriate than ever as we have recently won 8 Gold Awards in International Competitions. For this, and other news, please read on.
Brecon FIVE Vodka Wins Gold
Brecon FIVE Vodka won the Gold Award at the International Spirits Challenge 2017. FIVE is a premium 43% abv vodka made with pure clean water from Penderyn’s own glacier-bred, rock-filtered source situated below our distillery in the Brecon Beacons mountain range. FIVE is distilled five times for maximum purity (hence its name), and whilst Vodka may be charcoal filtered, FIVE is so pure it doesn’t need any further filtration. It gains a smooth fruit twist when we add a hint of barley spirit from our unique Penderyn still.
Brecon FIVE vodka now has a UK-wide listing with Tesco and in the north of England with Booths & Co. It is also available from Welsh distributors Castell Howell and Blas ar Fwyd, as well as the distillery and major online retailers.
Stephen Davies, Penderyn’s Chief Exec, said, ‘We regularly celebrate our whiskies and gins picking up international awards so are especially delighted that our vodka has won this prestigious award.’
Nikayla Langley, one of the organisers of the event said, ‘Winning an ISC medal is an outstanding achievement and underlines a producer’s commitment to quality and innovation through the spirit.’
Four Whisky Golds 
The World Whisky Masters Awards organised by The Spirits Business are one of the most prestigious of the International Spirits Awards, and Penderyn picked up gold for the following whiskies: Penderyn Madeira 46%, Penderyn Myth, Penderyn Sherrywood; Penderyn Rich Oak.
Stephen Davies, Penderyn’s Chief Exec, said, ‘This is excellent news for everyone at the distillery. Our whiskies are now firmly part of the international whisky conversation and we are delighted with these awards. Penderyn is going from strength to strength, exports are increasing, we’ve become an established brand in multiples across the UK with ever increasing listings across our range, and we also have some more very exciting news which we look forward to sharing with you towards the end of the year.’
Our Sherrywood was then featured on the Spirits Business Website...
(Please note: Penderyn Sherrywood is now back on sale and available from our Distillery shop and online here.)
...Brecon Gin and 2 more Whiskies also victorious!
Three more gold awards have been won at international sprits competitions: Brecon Special Reserve Gin won gold at the London-based Spirits Business Global Gin Masters, and two of our single malt whiskies, Sherrywood 46% and Rich Oak at 50% won gold at the Meiningers International Spirits Awards ISW in Neustadt an der Weinstraße in Germany.
Meiningers, the publishing house, was founded in 1903 by Daniel Meininger in Neustadt, Germany. With his trade magazine ‘Das Weinblatt’, a weekly publication dedicated to ‘real viniculture and the wine trade’, he started a publishing house which, now in its fourth generation, is synonymous with journalistic expertise in the fields of wine, beverages and gastronomy.
Stephen Davies, Penderyn’s Chief Exec, said, ‘After the wonderful success of our Brecon FIVE Vodka winning gold at the International Spirits Challenge in June, it’s fantastic that our gin and single malt whiskies have again been recognised as among the finest in the world.’
New Penderyn T-Shirt
We have a new tee-shirt for sale, and it's available exclusively from our shop. It retails at £15 and features the distillery logo on the chest, as well as some iconic images on the sleeve - gold seam, a harp, shield, a dragon - and our AC logo on the back. Men's and women's sizes available. Call 01685 810 650 for more info.
Penderyn Music Book Prize 2017
The Penderyn Music Book Prize is the only UK-based book prize specifically for music titles including history, theory, biography, autobiography. The 2017 award ceremony took place at the Laugharne Weekend, onSunday 9th April. The winner was Daniel Rachel for ‘Walls Come Tumbling Down’ (Picador) – a book that charts the pivotal period between 1976 and 1992 that saw politics and pop music come together for the first time in Britain's musical history.
Daniel is pictured below with (from left to right), Jon Tregenna (Penderyn Media Manager), Daniel Rachel (Prize Winner), Stephen Davies (Penderyn Chief Exec), Richard Thomas (Prize & Laugharne Weekend Organiser).
There is a video of the event on the Penderyn Youtube Channel.
The book has been described as a ‘triumphant oral history’ by John Harris in The Guardian, and as ‘a colossal and brilliant book’ by Shaun Keaveny on BBC 6 Music. After the ceremony Daniel said, ‘I am so thrilled to receive the Penderyn Music Book Prize. The last time I won a prize was the tombola at St Christopher’s Children Home when I was 8!’ Stephen Davies, Penderyn’s Chief Executive, said, ‘I thoroughly enjoyed reading the winning book. Congratulations to Daniel on his remarkable achievement. We look forward to next year’s prize.’
For more info, please go here: www.penderynprize.com
Liquor, Literature & Laugharne
Looking for a very special gift for that important person in your life? We are delighted to offer a two night Liquor, Literature & Laugharne B&B break in Brown's in Laugharne, west Wales. The inn is iconic as the favourite drinking haunt of Dylan Thomas, and has been refurbished to a very high standard offering 15 luxurious rooms as well as the listed bar. 
As part of the break you will enjoy a Penderyn Masterclass in the evocative Brown's board room on your first evening, and a 90 minute guided tour of the fascinating place Dylan called, 'the strangest town in Wales' the following morning.
Liquor, Literature & Laugharne is available on a Mon/Tues or Weds/Thurs and costs £225 based on a couple sharing. When you purchase you will be sent a gift card which you can pass on, or alternatively The Brown's can post it out for you.
For further information please telephone 01994-427-688 or email info@browns.wales and the staff at Brown's will be happy to answer any questions you may have regarding this break.
Do you have any Penderyn recipes?
Louise Short, who has written this lovely cookbook (available from our distillery & online shops), is looking for recipes for Volume 2. If you, or anyone you know, have recipes that involve any of our spirits, please email them to Louise at: lshort62@aol.com
Those whose recipes make the published book will get a credit, a bottle of Penderyn Single Malt, a copy of the book and an invitation to the book launch party.
New Penderyn Website - You Can Now Book Online!!
We've recently launched a website which you can find at www.penderyn.wales
The main purpose of the exercise was to ensure the site was fully mobile responsive (and thumb-friendly) as over 60% of our site traffic now comes from smartphones, whilst making sure it also looked good on a desktop or tablet.
Also we now have an online booking system and new features including a 'Distilling In Wales' timeline, a press pageand more pictures than before. There will also be a Club Members page which will be populated soon.
Our shop remains atwww.penderynstore.com
Take a look, it'd be great to know what you think. Feel free to contact us via:
jon@penderyn.wales
And finally...
Taittinger Champagne and Penderyn Whisky on the Orient Express. Lovely! Thanks to Phil Grey @greyo1970 for this great pic.
