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01 January 2001
The Welsh Whisky Company
By
Richard Gordon
You can see it in the countryside; Tower Colliery on one side, the Brecon Beacons rolling away to the north. The Welsh Whisky Company has staked its territory just inside this line (on the limestone side), in the village of Penderyn, where it will produce malt whisky. Welsh malt whisky.
Before choking on your haggis remember that Wales had a rich distilling tradition. The word 'chwisgi' is surely recognisable. Unlike Scotland, however, it did not have the benefit of a separate parliament that kept records, so written evidence is patchy. Some claim that, like Irish distilling, it predates distilling in Scotland but then does it really matter?
As in Scotland, the practice of distilling moved out of the monasteries after the reformation, and was taken up by farmers as a way of using grain stock that might otherwise rot over the winter (and of keeping life palatable). In the early 1880s Evan Williams founded Wales. first commercial distillery but then left Dale in Pembrokeshire for the United States. It is claimed that he was closely followed by a certain Jack Daniel of Cardigan. Whatever Jack Daniel's origins these two characters have serious claims to be amongst the founders of the bourbon distilling industry in America. The American distilleries have gone from strength to strength but the last legal Welsh distillery died a sobering death in 1906. A combination of the Welsh Chapel and the temperance movement proved lethal to the Welsh distillers.
Wales has all the necessary ingredients to make whisky: the land, the water and the cold. Charles Haig (of that family) thought the same. In the 1870's, he formed a company to produce whisky in Wales along Highland malt lines .in a hilly district, where the fresh ozone breezes tempered the summer heat and moderated the winter cold, where the water supply flowed down from the mountains and the peats were to be found in plenty on the adjoining mosses!.
But, more of this later.
Memories are long in the village of Penderyn and neighbouring Hirwaun. And although you will be assured of a warm welcome, some remember that it was the Scots that quelled the Chartists uprising at Merthyr in 1831. A detachment of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, garrisoned at Brecon, were ordered into the town to quell the fiery crowds whose anthem was 'Reform Forever'. The soldiers. presence only inflamed the situation and they were attacked at the Castle Inn where they were staying. The soldiers, with little alternative but to defend themselves, opened fire and a number of protesters ended the day dead.
News spread fast and workers at Hirwaun went on the march carrying an improvised red flag . a sheet dipped in the blood of a slaughtered calf. The uprising, which had the makings of a revolution, was eventually suppressed and one of the leaders Richard Lewis, mythologised as 'Dic Penderyn', was hanged. Apparently the women who watched the arrival of the Scottish troops were said to shout, 'Go back and get your trousers on'. As I wasn't wearing a kilt, my reception was definitely warmer.
Three of the directors in the Welsh Whisky Distillery project, Arthur Davies in change of administration, Alun Evans, sales and Nick Clark, production, were on site when I arrived. That they decided to build the distillery inside a former cash and carry may seem a little surprising at first, but, then there is the high quality of the water to consider. Beneath lie caves and an underground lake. The water has run over the peat of the Brecon Beacons, through sandstone and carboniferous limestone and a bore has been drilled 200 feet to reach it. In order to get the project off the ground the mash will initially be produced at the Brain.s Brewery in Cardiff under the supervision of Head Brewer John Glazard based on a recipe used at the Bala distillery in the late 1880's. Eventually the whole process will be done on site.
When I arrived, the boys were standing around the biggest new toy of their lives: the still. (This still had come, unused, from a previous venture in the Beacons that went the way of its predecessors and into receivership). The still is something like a pot still but with plates inside it so acts more like a Lomond still. The second part of the distillation process takes place through an 18-plate rectifier. Catriona McCrimmon, formerly of the Allied plant in Dumbarton is Stillman and the first distillation of malt whisky in Wales for 100 years took place in August 1999. Tests to date attest to its quality; light in character, perhaps more like Lowland or Irish whiskies but we will need to wait and see. Whisky will be casked in ex-Jack Daniel and sherry casks and stored at the distillery.
So that nothing more should be wanted, a practical working distiller was secured from Scotland, an ample supply of the finest barley for malting was arranged, pot stills and other utensils of the most up-to-date order were provided, and eventually when the distillery was completed it was one of the most thoroughly perfect that could be for the required purpose. (...) In fact, only a year or two sufficed to prove that the very costly experiment of making Scotch malt whisky in Wales under the best conditions possible, was doomed to failure. The whisky lay in the distillery warehouses .eating its head off, for want of customers. (...) The distillery building is now scrapped..(1)
So ended Charles Haig's 19th Century attempt to make malt whisky in Wales.
Given that none of our Welsh friends had made whisky you might wonder if they will do any better than Mr Haig. They are getting assistance. Professor David Faraday (descendent of Sir Michael Faraday), assisted by Natalie Roberts at the University of Surrey, have designed the process, Brian Morgan of Cardiff University chairs the company. The Scots and the Scotch whisky industry seem to have been generously helpful. Our own Panel member Dr Jim Swan is advising on the quality of the spirit.
To provide local employment, and of course income during the early years, the distillery will open a visitor centre ahead of Easter 2001. It is ideally placed to become a stopping off point for visitors in and out of the Brecon Beacons and hopes to become an important Welsh tourist attraction. There is tremendous pride round the country for what the company is doing and The Welsh Whisky Company would like to become a catalyst for the promotion of Welsh products worldwide. There is a rich market to be tapped in the diaspora of Welsh people across the world. Already, many have been in touch through their local Welsh Societies to be the first to represent the whisky in their respective markets. As Tommy Dewar is quoted as saying 'Competition is the breath of business, but the death of profits'. Commercial life is so much easier when you are the first or only one in a market and the Welsh Distillery Company has a clear advantage here. So will they succeed? My feeling is yes. The reason being, quite simply, that the infectious enthusiasm of the principals will brook no other outcome.
Once we have approved new spirit samples, The Society fully intends to support their endeavours by laying down a cask or two on behalf of our members. {{Well, after all we owe it to the Welsh. Lloyd George, the scourge of drinkers everywhere, did his level best to kill off the whisky industry}}. By insisting on a minimum of three years maturation, in an attempt to reduce consumption during the Great War, he effectively set the beginnings of quality standards for whisky. The industry has not looked back so thank you Wales.
Well, what next? My feeling is that England needs a malt whisky distillery. Northumbria, with its expansive, rugged countryside and plentiful water would seem a likely spot. Perhaps it should be located just north of Hadrian's wall to keep the purists happy.
(1) The Scotch Whisky Industry Record by Charles Craig.
Special thanks to Jeff and Dewi Thomas for their helpful research. Richard Gordon is the Managing Director of the Society.
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