Gwalia

On 14th September 2000 the first distillation was carried out at The Penderyn Distillery. Located in the foothills of the Brecon Beacons it is the only distillery in Wales and being one of the smallest in the world it produces minute quantities. In fact Wales has a long history of spirit distillation. In the 4th century a man known as Reaullt Hir was distilling on Bardsey Island off the North Wales coast. The ingredients of this ‘gwirod’ was a mix of barley, yeast and honey distilled to make a basic raw spirit. In more recent times a small commercial distillery at Dale in Pembrokeshire opened in 1705. This distillery was owned by Evan Williams’s family, who later emigrated from Wales to the USA and helped found the Kentucky Whiskey Industry. His name is still attached to a number of high quality bourbons to this day. Even Jack Daniels is rumoured to be from Welsh stock. In the 19th century, a whisky distillery operated at Frongoch near Bala in North Wales, under the chairmanship of a Mr Robert Willis. In the late 1800s, the ‘chapel building mania’ in Wales, the temperance movement and the unfortunate death of Mr Willis under the wheels of