A LLANDDAROG family are set to produce Wales’ first vodka and rum.

The Coles Family Brewers have invested £1.5m into their spirits venture.

The family have been brewing their own beer since 1999, five years after they took over The White Hart Thatched Inn and Brewery. In 2011, the Coles’ expanded into cider, winning the prestigious ‘Wales the True Taste’ award in the first year of production.

But now, the entrepreneurial family are set to break into the spirits trade with their vodka, rum, whiskey and gin.

Coles Vodka and Rum will be the first of the spirits to ever be produced entirely in Wales - from grain to glass.

Marcus Coles, along with three generations of his family, visited Chicago back in 2012 to learn about the process of making spirits.

Five years on, the family are ready to get their products to the shelves, but it hasn’t been smooth sailing to get this far.

After some extensive research, the pioneering Coles’ realised the equipment they would need to produce the variety of spirits, in the quantity they wanted to did not exist.

Instead of scaling back their project or giving up all together, the Coles’ simply built the unique distillery themselves.

From the Ammanford-made barrel rack and the Llanelli-made flooring, to the fermenters from Italy and the mash tonne, mills and hopers from China, the world-wide sourced distillery is now ready to produce up to 9,000 bottles of spirits a week.

Marcus said: “We started talking about our new venture about five years ago.

“Since then we’ve spend £1.5million of the money we’ve made from the brewery on getting us to where we are now.

“It’s been a whole family commitment and we’re so excited to get our products out there for people to try and taste.

“We’re producing Wales’ first ever vodka and rum and we really hope it takes off.”