A NEW Quay meadery have teamed up with a well-known Welsh whisky distillery to create two products with a ‘unique’ taste.

Afon Mêl, who have described their collaboration with Penderyn Distillery as ‘the sweetest marriage’, have now produced meads finished in both ex-Madeira and ex-Bourbon oak barrels previously used for Welsh whisky maturation.

Sam Cooper, owner and head mead-maker at Afon Mêl, explained: “This collection of small batch meads includes the two products matured in ex-Bourbon and ex-Madeira barrels.

“These have been used at Penderyn to mature their Welsh whisky – and once emptied are filled with mead.

“What comes out is wonderfully and subtly different to what goes in.”

These two products in this limited edition collection are built on Afon Mêl’s Great Taste, Golden Fork winner, Heather Mead.

Experimenting on a barrel-share basis with the award-winning Penderyn Distillery has been in Afon Mêl’s planning for the last five years.

“All the new Meads created allow us to explore different mead-making methods,” said Sam.

“With these small batch meads we can showcase a new and exciting side to Afon Mêl’s Meads.”

Afon Mêl have just been shortlisted in three categories for The Great British Food Awards 2022.