The chairman of Penderyn Distillery has flown to Ukraine to meet with the businesses importers, and to offer his support.

The distillery, which can be found on the edge of the Brecon Beacons, works closely with Ukraine, supplying whisky to the country. The trip came about after Penderyn Distillery signed up to help Ukraine promote a ‘stronger and more prosperous’ state with the UK Government Ukraine Business Compact doc. They have also donated money to charity to help Ukraine.

Nigel Short took a flight on Tuesday, and is documenting his travels via video.

Speaking in his first video, Nigel said: “It’s going to be some journey. There’s a three hour car journey to Bristol and three hour flight to eastern Poland. Then a two hour to the border, and then a thirteen hour overnight train journey to Kyiv.

“I’m a little apprehensive. A lot of people have asked why I’m going. The easy answer is that I’m going to support our wonderful importers there, who buy a lot of Penderyn whisky from us. The Ukrainians love Penderyn. But there’s a longer answer, which is more complicated, that I’ll talk about more on the trip. It’s something I’ve wanted to do for a long time, to show some solidarity.”

While waiting for his train at Przemyśl Główny in Poland he took in the history of the town, noting how the train station has seen world leaders such as President Biden pass through to get to Ukraine. “There are no commercial flights into Ukraine now. Train, bus or car is the only way to do it.”

It’s a different way of travelling for Nigel. “I’ve only ever been on a train in the UK before, never thirteen hours on a train. I’ll be in a sleeper car. Knowing my luck it will be with burly power lifters.”

On his journey, Nigel remarks on the history Poland has faced, believing in Wales we are ‘lucky’. “Half a million Ukrainian refugees came through this train station recently. The wars and the tragedies this area has seen for hundreds of years made me realise we don’t know how lucky we are in Wales. We’ve seen good times and bad times, but what this area has seen is remarkable, even before World War II. During World War II it was the border between the Nazis and the Soviets in the early years of the war, and then overrun by the Nazis and then the Soviets. It’s quite sobering.”

Arriving in Kyiv, Nigel is met by Helen who works for Penderyn’s importing partners in Ukraine. “She’s going to be looking after me for a few days.”

His journey continues over on the Penderyn YouTube page.