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Hold the front page It’s Gold for Penderyn Distillery
Penderyn Distillery
The modern home of Welsh whisky, Penderyn was the first distillery in Wales for over 100 years when they started distilling in 2000. Indeed, they were pioneers in World Whisky, as only a handful of countries had whisky distilleries. And Penderyn Distillery have just had a remarkable series of results in the San Francisco World Spirits Competition. Celt from their Dragon range and Rich Oak from their Gold range won Double Golds. And Madeira and Port Wood (from their Gold Range) and Myth (from their Dragon Range) won Golds. Stephen Davies, Penderyn’s CEO said, ‘We’d like to congratulate our US importers, ImpexBev for their hard work representing Penderyn in the US. They have done a wonderful job, and these awards will only reinforce our sales in the US, as well as the rest of the world.’ Sam Filmus, President of Penderyn’s US importer, Impex Bev said, “It is a true testament to the quality and care that goes into each bottle they produce. As the US importer it gives us great pleasure to see the numbers of loyal fans of Penderyn here in the US growing and we are confident these well-deserved awards will continue to grow along with them.” Penderyn are based in Penderyn, near the Brecon Beacons but have also opened a new distillery in a handsome former school in Lloyd St, in the centre of Llandudno last May. They have already picked up a Go North Wales 2021 Tourism Award. On top of this, Trip Advisor has ranked them ‘#1 tour to do in Llandudno’. Both Penderyn Distilleries are open 7 days a week, and you can visit the shop or take an award-winning Tour, which includes the exhibition area, the distilling hall, before finishing in the tasting bar, where you’ll have the chance to sample a drink or two. And for those who want to indulge further, Masterclasses are available. Book via www.penderyn.wales/visit With its large carpark, Penderyn’s Llandudno visitors can park their car for the day to explore the wonderful coastal resort. Penderyn Distillery continues to go from strength to strength and now with their award-winning North Wales distillery, you can see for yourself why Penderyn is the home of Welsh whisky. www.penderyn.wales
Brecon burger wins best plantbased burger in the UK
Brecon burger
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The burger towering almost as high as the beacons themselves, Welsh chef Cai Williams from Hill, a restaurant in Brecon renowned for its extravagant beef burgers, wins the vegan burger of the year award at the National Burger Awards held in London. The delicious plant-based burger winning top spot has not even made it to the restaurant’s menu yet. The burger in question was cheffed up by Cai’s current love for East Asian food. The Asian inspired burger
www.taste-blas.co.uk
combines pickled red slaw, and spring onions mixed with a delicious plant-based patty. It may come as a surprise to learn the restaurant famed for its innovative beef burgers brings home gold for one of its only plant-based inventions. Hills menu is famous for its wide range of imaginative burgers, from Biscoff beef to gravy and chips and a burger encrusted in gold. The restaurant owners of Hill have congratulated Cai and are looking forward to bringing more plant-based burgers to the menu in the future. www.hillsbrecon.co.uk
New World Butchers’ Challenge date announced Post Covid, the 2022 World Butchers’ Challenge resumes in Sacramento, California, USA on 2-3 September 2022. A Welsh team, captained by Peter Rushforth, made up of a talented group of Wales’ finest young butchery talent, is taking part this year. Pete, a butcher from North Wales, who has won Welsh Butcher of the Year, represented GB in the International Young Butcher of the year, is a gold medallist at World Skills UK Butchery Final and was Meat Trade Journals Young Butcher of the Year is joined by Dan Allen-Raftery, Matthew Edwards, Liam Lewis, Tomi Jones, Craig Holly and Benjamin Roberts in their bid to bring the World crown to Wales. The concept of the World Butchers’ Challenge is to encourage butchers to exceed current industry practice in the areas of general workmanship, meat cutting, displaying and the creative usage of beef, lamb, pork and chicken product. The competition fosters a global community and life-long friendships, with business opportunities and overall trade benefiting from an injection of creativity and innovation. Competing teams are given a side of beef, a side of pork, a whole lamb and five chickens which they must then transform into a themed display of value-added products using their own seasonings, spices, marinades and garnish to finish products that inspire and push boundaries. They must also be easily cookable and sell in a retail setting. Independent judges score each team based on technique, skill, workmanship, product innovation, overall finish and presentation. Arwyn Watkins, President of the Culinary Association of Wales says ‘I firmly believe this is the perfect platform for some of Wales’ top butchers to showcase their skills on the World stage. As you can imagine we are wanting to give our team the best possible chance and we firmly believe we have a team of Butchers who have the skills to go all the way.’ To show your support for the team and get involved as a sponsor for the team please visit www.culinaryassociation.wales to find out more
