In the Welsh Wind distillery has been granted planning permission by Ceredigion County Council for multi-million pound development at its site on the west Wales coast.
The distillery, which was founded in January 2018, now has the go ahead to extend and develop the existing building and the construction of a cask and grain store which is fundamental to the business’s production of a ‘grain to glass’ Welsh whisky. The distillery also has pre-planning approval to create an industry-leading education and research centre for Wales at the site at Tanygroes, just north of the town of Cardigan.
Joe Lewis, Business Manager for In the Welsh Wind, said:
“We are delighted that our planning application has been granted. The potential for a high-class business on this prime site has never been fully reached. This planning permission paves the way for us to build a world class distillery business here in west Wales with the addition of quality buildings designed to allow for growth and to showcase our gins and our grain to glass welsh malt whisky.”
The distillery moved from its original premises in a renovated cowshed into the iconic Gogerddan Arms pub, a flagship location on the west Wales coast road, in March 2019. The business exercised its option to purchase the premises in early 2020, taking ownership days before the first lockdown. Although initially producing award-winning custom branded spirits for other businesses, the team at In the Welsh Wind released its first own brand gin, In the Welsh Wind Signature Style, in summer 2020. A cask-aged version of this award-winning gin is now available. The distillery also produced over 30,000 litres of hand sanitiser in the first months of lockdown.
Alongside gin and hand sanitiser production, the distillery spent 2020 pioneering its ‘grain to glass’ Welsh single malt whisky project. Working with local farmers to grow barley both at the distillery site and in fields local to the distillery in South Ceredigion and North Pembrokeshire, In the Welsh Wind has innovated to create what it believes to be the first malting floor of any significance in Wales for over 100 years. With new stills installed, and a bore hole due to be sunk on distillery property, production of a fully ‘grain to glass’ Welsh whisky is underway.
Not only will the whisky be completely Welsh – the first such whisky to come to market in recent years – the distillery has succeeded in reducing energy consumption involved in whisky distillation.
Alex Jungmayr, co-founder and distillery owner explains:
“By malting on site, we remove the need for kilning the malted grain. Although this has been assumed for years to be an integral part of the distillation process, one of the only reasons malted grain needs to be kilned is for it to be transported and stored ready for use. By carrying out all processes on site, in small batches, the need for kilning, a hugely energy heavy part of the process, is removed. Our distilling process will create the flavour notes that might otherwise be added by the kilning process ”
The distillery will mature its new make spirit in smaller casks re-coopered from staves carefully selected for the flavours they will impart to the new make spirit and stored in the cask store envisaged in this planning permission.
The development of the distillery site will not only enhance In the Welsh Wind’s production, it will contribute to the economy of the local area, both as a tourist attraction and as an employer. The business has taken the lead in offering work experience opportunities to young people in the area and has recently taken on an apprentice distiller and will offer 4 Kickstart placements over the next few months.
