As I get to the halfway point of my little Irish “vacation”, I focus on the more boutiquey side of Irish whiskey. After the first new distillery in Dublin in years, I am looking at what is currently the best-known artisanal distillery in the Emerald Isle, Dingle Distillery. Today I will review their only standard lineup whiskey, their triple-distilled Dingle Single Malt.
TL:DR: A lovely, aromatic and bready dram that makes me want to explore this distillery some more.
Score: 6, good stuff.
The Irish New Wave forerunners
Irish whiskey has gone through ups and downs. The number of distilleries operating from the early 1800s gives a vague idea of the health of the Irish whiskey industry. The peak 93 distilleries in 1835, following the boom caused by reductions in excise duties on whiskey, had floundered to a mere 2 by the 1970s. Irish whiskey has begun to grow again since the 2010s, with tens of new distilleries opening. Many of these new distilleries have yet to release any whiskey, we can hope they will all go on to future success. (P.S. The recent news of Swedish Mackmyra declaring bankruptcy might be the first sign of some troubled times ahead for the business overall).
Dingle was the first of this new 2010s wave of Irish distillers and a self-declared artisan distillery at that. Founded by the people behind Porterhouse Brewing, Ireland’s first craft brewery, it was born in 2012. After all, when you know how to make beer you are only a few steps (and many years) to making whiskey, so why not? Dingle’s released their first whisky in 2016.
The Dingle Single Malt I will review today is their only “standard lineup” product. Everything else is released by batch, be it their batch single malt, the cask strength whiskey, the single pot still or the seasonal limited releases inspired by the main festivities of the Celtic Calendar. I do wonder if this batch release strategy will continue. Considering the saturation of Non Age Stated expressions, and the fatigue consumers are starting to show for these expressions, will the distillery move away from these and into age statements down the line?
Dingle Single Malt Irish Whiskey
Specs
Price paid: €44.90
Bottled date: No info on the bottle or tube, according to Whiskybase this was bottled in 2021
ABV: 46.3%
Natural colour: Yes
Non-chill filtered: Yes
Casks Used: first fill Bourbon (39%) and PX Sherry (61%)
Tasting Notes
Colour: A rich reddish gold
Nose: Lovely elegant nose. The character is rich with Bourbon and spirit notes, unexpected for a whisky that has only been aged 31% in Bourbon. Fruity, bready, sweet and citrusy. Opens up on red apples, ripe pears, loads of vanilla and buttered sourdough toast. Some delicate citrus peel, orange blossom notes, and a marzipan-like hint cut those sweeter notes. There are faint hints of spice (pepper, cinnamon) and dried figs. Are those PX casks possibly second fill?
Taste & Finish: Quite rich on the palate. There is a touch of youthful spice. On the palate, the PX makes its presence felt but not excessively. Baked apple with raisins cinnamon and vanilla, figs, a touch of baking spice, a hint of liquorice and oak. The finish is medium in length, with notes of spice, some toffee sweetness, bread, and some slight bitterness and woodiness on the aftertaste.
Score*: 6, good stuff.
Let me start with something that shouldn’t have any bearing on my opinion of this whiskey. I simply love the branding on this bottle. From the colours to the wrenboy logo, I love the look. Branding aside, this is a dram I really enjoyed, and a very strong 6. For what is by all accounts a young whiskey, the nose has a lovely multilayered complexity. The palate and finish are maybe a bit more linear, but not disappointing. In any case this is a bottle that makes me want to explore Dingle’s output further.
* Score are based on the scoring scale used by Dramface, slightly modified to allow half-points
After writing my tasting notes, I always find it interesting to look at other opinions. Here are a few reviews of Dingle Single Malt enjoyed:
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