Welsh whisky

Welsh whisky (Welsh: Wisgi Cymreig; alternative form: chwisgi) is a whisky made in Wales. Whisky has been distilled in Wales since the Middle Ages, but production died out in the late 19th century. In the 1990s attempts were made to revive the practice, resulting in the establishment of Wales's first distillery in over one hundred years. Today Welsh whisky is represented by Penderyn.

History

Wales has a long history of alcohol production, but distillation came in the Middle Ages.

"The Great Welsh Warrior" Reaullt Hir is said to have distilled chwisgi from braggot brewed by the monks of Bardsey Island in AD 356. These monks then allegedly developed the art of distilling further. However this is unlikely. The name "Reaullt" is a High Medieval loanword from Anglo-Norman French, so this name would not have been used before the eleventh century.

The medieval Welsh stories of The Mabinogion mention fermentation but not distillation; the end of the "Mead Song" in a 16th-century manuscript of the sixth-century Tales of Taliesin mentions distillation, although mead is a fermented beverage.