Protected status boosts Welsh whisky 'credibility'

Granting protection to single malt Welsh whisky has added "credibility and status" to the drink, the chairman of one of Wales' leading distilleries has said. Nigel Short, of Penderyn, said the drink was "genuinely world class" and the protected status, secured last year, had confirmed that. Single malt is one of 20 Welsh food and drink products to be given protected geographical indication (PGI) status.

Welsh lamb, leeks and Caerphilly cheese also benefit from PGI status to guarantee and promote their authenticity. PGI status is used to protect and promote products from a particular region or country. It took three years for Welsh whisky to receive its protection, which involved an audit to confirm the single malt had been made in Wales.

Penderyn is one of five single malt producers in Wales that can use the PGI status, which defends them from impersonation, affording similar protection to Scotch and Irish whiskies. “Around the world, at the British embassies and some of the Welsh government offices, you get a credibility and a status that you wouldn't otherwise enjoy. So it's a big tick in the box in terms of what we are doing,” Mr Short said.

The company has its headquarters at Penderyn in the Bannau Brycheiniog national park - also known as the Brecon Beacons - with two other distilleries in Llandudno and Swansea. Welsh whisky production is dwarfed by the Scottish market, which is worth almost £6bn to the UK economy. A slowdown in luxury goods sales has recently hit t.