Some years back I thought I’d give Penderyn a try, it being the first Welsh Whisky, AFAIK, and I was a bit disappointed, it was a bit ‘harsh’, but it was early days.

I tried Penderyn in its early days also, one of the first public releases down in a Cardiff whisky shop. My reaction was similar, “it’ll probably be quite nice when they’ve finished making it.” Then I saw the price tag attached to what was essentially a work in progress and I haven’t touched it since.

I have a last batch bottle from about 25 years ago that I gave my dad on his 50th. Nothing special just sentimental really as it was a local distillery that was closing down. Cost about £50. He never opened it, said he was keeping it to wet the babies head when my 1st child came along, but never did open it. It’s worth about £250 now according to Google.

If it’s a Scottish single malt from a closed distillery I’d be very surprised if it was only worth £250 as ghost distilleries tend to be collectable. Have a look at auctions for an accurate price.

For the op it could be worth sitting on for a year or two as most new distilleries have built whatever reputation they’re going to have by then. If it’s White Peak then there’s definitely suggestions in the whisky world that they’ve got potential to make interesting whisky. I’m annoyed that I just drank the first couple of Lakes releases as they were nice enough but now fetch 5 or 6 times the original price.

From Scotland is Whisky.

From Ireland is Whiskey.
Correct.

it’s actually not correct, legally or historically – but this is one of those “facts” that people convince themselves is true and go on to repeat it whilst nodding sagely down the pub as if they are the font of all knowledge 😉

To E or not to E

It’s correct for most practical purposes, there will always be outliers. Eg, just because Irish whiskey can be spelt ‘whisky’ doesn’t mean it is. I expect there are plenty that do so but I can’t think of any off the top of my head.

Muc off chain degreaser – £19.99 /750ml bottle

Tesco special reserve whisky – £17.50 /lt bottle

Aldi Highland earl whisky – £13 /lt bottle

Looks like its cheaper to degrease your chain in Whisky than in muc off.

Drink it.
It’ll get no better in the bottle. If bottles eventually become valued then you have the satisfaction of knowing what it tasted like.

The whiskyshop.com is fairly pragmatic with its whisky/whiskey.

whisky or whiskey?
Both spellings refer to the same thing, but just like colour and color, the UK and USA each have their own preferred spelling. In general whisky is produced in the UK, Canada, Japan, India and Europe, while whiskey is made in Ireland and the USA. There are exceptions (like Maker’s Mark from Kentucky, USA that takes the UK spelling) so don’t get too hung up on spelling!

They’re a bit more specific on things like ‘Scotch’, ‘bourbon’, and the like.

I’m going with keep it if the bottle has the provenance it has.
Spend the next ten years drinking Caol Ila. Then check the value of your bottle. If it’s worth something good, if not drink it.
I’ve got an early bottle (well my daughter has) of Kilchoman. It’s now worth a modest amount. It’s an ok whisky. I drank the other bottle.

We have the English Whisky company here in Norfolk and they’ve been going since 2006, made a few good drops, but very little that has been deemed collectible i don’t think, although there grain whisky has won quite a few awards:

https://www.englishwhisky.co.uk/our-story/

It’ll get no better in the bottle

When left for a significant amount of time whisky does change in the bottle. There’s no guarantee that’s for the better though.

Once opened it does. First I’ve about that with sealed bottles, are you sure?

A little whisky related story, to perhaps change the tone…

My father died recently and being the forethinking type (and being 82) had saved a decent sum so that the cost of his funeral wouldn’t be borne by his beloved. However, it being Covid times we couldn’t have the big bash that he wanted and only me and my siblings could attend.

So I used the money to buy a bottle of whisky from the year of his birth. At the grave poured 3 glasses, the first I gave to my eldest brother and said: “this whisky is like our dad, because it went around the sun the same number of times he did.” Then my eldest brother poured it on the grave, we all feel a bit low.

Next glass to next brother and I said: “This whisky is like our dad because it’s golden colour reminds us of the way conversations with him could illuminate ideas like no other.” Middle brother pours it on the grave, there’s a bit of tearing up.

Last glass I give to my youngest sister and I said: “This whisky is like our dad because too much of it will give you a headache.” Which made us all laugh as she poured it on the grave.

Then we ate some lunch and afterwards we drank the rest of the whisky, it wasn’t the best I’d ever drunk (despite being the most expensive), but it was the most meaningful.

It’s funny how we value things.

Scotch whiskey is a protected name,

You are trolling now

Muc off chain degreaser – £19.99 /750ml bottle

Tesco special reserve whisky – £17.50 /lt bottle

Aldi Highland earl whisky – £13 /lt bottle

Looks like its cheaper to degrease your chain in Whisky than in muc off.

Posted 13 hours ago

You laugh, but the Aldi Speyside whisky is FAR better than it’s ~£17 price tag belies! It’s actually a really nice drink.

As for the OP’s question, I think the probability of it being a good bottle is quite low for reasons already given in the thread, so I’d just stick it in the back of the cupboard for a decade or so as it *might* be OK and worth something one day…

A little whisky related story, to perhaps change the tone…

I totally thought that was going to be a joke and was waiting for the punchline. Cool story.

Problem solved – they had a small number spare when I just picked it up – so one to drink, one to keep! 🙂

Is it any good?

I’m guessing the bottle is yet to be opened or it’s particularly good!
Not sure I’d be opening it on a Thursday evening?

Cracked a bottle open – For a whisky that’s only 3 years old it’s really rather nice. I’m sure a conneseur would find fault though.

Just a nice thing to have as the distillery is only a short walk from my front door.

I’ve read, no idea if true, that the proliferation of craft gin distilleries in the UK these days will lead to craft whisky coming out of the same places. The equipment is essentially the same, but gin can be sold immediately while your whisky/rum/etc sits in barrels for 8 years and gives you more return on your investment.

White Peak Distillery have been set up with whisky as their main target from day one. The gin and rum they make is to keep the tills rolling while the whisky matures.

They’ve invested millions to get this far so they’re not operating from a garden shed whacking a few botanicals in a bottle. 😀

Derbyshire distillery handcrafted whisky gin and rum

Muffin man there’s plenty of nice 3yo whiskies about