Distillation

The distillery in Penderyn distils differently from almost any other whisky region in the world. Instead of running the spirit through two or three copper pot stills in succession, as is standard in Scotland or Ireland, a single still is used here, fitted with an attached purifier and rectifying column. It was designed by Dr David Faraday, a descendant of the naturalist Michael Faraday.

In a single pass, this combination of copper pot and column separates the alcohol from unwanted aromas. By the end of the run, the new-make spirit leaves the still at around 92 percent alcohol, an exceptionally high figure for malt whisky. Because the column purifies continuously, there's no need for a second or third distillation, the step other distilleries use to separate heads and tails from the heart.

The three younger distilleries, by contrast, favour the more classic setup of small copper pot stills familiar from many craft distilleries. In the Welsh Wind on the Ceredigion coast distils all its own spirits, from gin to single malt, on the same compact still.

Coles in Llanddarog handles the whole process itself, from its own grain right through to the bottle, covering gin, vodka, rum and whisky alike. The distillery was the first in Wales to achieve this across its entire spirits range.

Before the new-make spirit goes into the cask, it's diluted with water to a lower strength anyway, usually around 63 percent alcohol, as is customary in Britain. This step applies equally to all four Welsh distilleries, whether one still or several were involved. Only after that does the real, years-long maturation in the cask begin for every drop.