With it suddenly being March, all thoughts pretty much turned to crazy drinking holidays, like, of course, the much-anticipated St. David’s Day.*
Bar staff across the city live in dread of this beer-soaked weekend, what with all the rowdy Welsh revelers lining up at the city’s many ersatz Welsh pubs to quaff a little Felinfoel ale and the inevitable shots of Penderyn Sherrywood Welsh whisky.
Never heard of Welsh whisky? Neither had we until quite recently, when we discovered the Welsh had gotten into the single-malt game. Like many scotch producers, they also age it in sherry casks, resulting in quite a nice little product. A few reasons to consider picking up a bottle include the fact that, on account of St. Patrick’s Day, both Jameson’s and Guinness are concerned about global supply, so we could ease up on them. Second, the novelty of Wisgi Cymreig (also known as chwisgi) should impress people. (No, we don’t know how to pronounce that, either.) Finally, we’re pretty sure the Welsh saved civilization somewhere way back when—probably about the time they started making chwisgi.
While there are obvious similarities (the sherry casks produce some of the usual “fruitcake” flavours), the Penderyn Sherrywood ($84,95) is distinct from its Scottish and Irish cousins.
As such, we can’t imagine this is the last we’re going to hear about Welsh whisky and, given that there at least 60 bottles in Toronto LCBO stores, so you might want to grab a bottle and get in on the ground floor.
*Technically speaking, we missed St. Dave’s (which falls on the first of March). But often the party lasts the whole weekend—if not longer. And, somehow, those bottles of Penderyn survived the bash and still remain available for purchase at the LCBO.
