Penderyn Distillery Release ‘Hiraeth’ Icons of Wales Whisky Edition

Penderyn Distillery (The Welsh Whisky Company) have released their special Hiraeth whisky, with £1 from the sale of every bottle going towards the Hiraeth.Live campaign for Welsh homelessness and mental health issues.

The initial issue is in the UK with global distribution to follow. This long-awaited release delayed by supply chain issues is finally being released in limited quantities.

Hiraeth is the 8th in Penderyn’s Icons of Wales series, which has previously included bottlings celebrating Dylan Thomas, Sir Bryn Terfel and Rhiannon from medieval Welsh literature. The whisky is an Ex-Bourbon cask finish, at 46%, and is a milestone release for Penderyn as it is the first time we release a core range expression single malt mostly based on the production on the more traditional double distillation still we introduced in 2014.

The Welsh language is one of the oldest in Europe and one of the most evocative Welsh words is ‘Hiraeth’ – a powerful word, especially to the Welsh people around the world. Hiraeth can mean ‘yearning’ or ‘homesickness’ and is often considered by many to be untranslatable. BBC broadcaster Roy Noble, and one of our directors summed it up very well as, “a longing for your homeland, your heritage and your very being”.

Penderyn were among a number of Welsh businesses who set up a campaign: www.hiraeth.live<http://www.hiraeth.live/> – raising money for two Welsh charities, Hafal and Llamau.

Hafal works with people across Wales who live with mental illness, or care for someone who does. Llamau’s mission is to end youth homelessness and homelessness for women in Wales.

Penderyn will contribute towards this project donating £1 from every bottle of Hiraeth sold.

The Hiraeth.live project has been asking Welsh celebrities and the public to send in videos, paintings, writings about Hiraeth and a selection of videos, including Sir Bryn Terfel, footballer Aaron Ramsey and singer Bonnie Tyler, can be seen here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E8q0rnx9ZZo <https://youtu.be/E8q0rnx9ZZo>