Dingle Distillery

Dingle Distillery is located on the Wild Atlantic Way in Dingle, County Kerry. Dingle Distillery is an Irish whiskey distillery established in 2012, when Ireland emerged from the most significant recession. The Porterhouse Brewing Company owns it. In 1996, when craft beer was not appealing to the masses, the company was one of the craft brewing pioneers in Ireland.

Artisan product
A good majority of Irish whiskey distilleries are not currently using their distillate. Typically, these distilleries purchase whiskey elsewhere and then bottle and sell it as their own. At Dingle Distillery, it is not an issue; more than likely, the process of creating their whiskey has already started, and their spirit is maturing. Legally, under the Irish Whiskey Act of 1980, whiskey only needs to be three years old to be classified as Irish. There are so many fundamental questions determining the right time for distilleries to sell their whiskey, with the majority concerning the taste, smell, and colour. Some competitive distillers compromise and begin bottling. 

Now is a very reasonable time for Irish Whiskey; lots of the new distilleries are approaching a period when their own spirit is maturing nicely and getting ready to be bottled. The COVID pandemic may have impacted the speed of production and selling to keep the revenues up. A rise in the popularity of Irish whiskey opens options for more rapid commercialization. Nothing can prevent a distillery from improving something now and then instead of waiting and releasing something more fully developed later when Irish whiskey may not be quite so popular.

Being Ireland’s youngest distillery, Dingle Distillery is not a well-known site, but it will soon be. Using age-old methods and traditions, they have produced an artisan product which differs from anything else on the market. Today, Dingle Whiskey is maturing in the mild climate of the southwest coast of Ireland, which is favourable for whiskey production. It will be the first authentically new single malt produced in Ireland in the past 25 years. The production scale is modest, with just two casks produced per week. While this whiskey matures, you can savour Dingle Original Gin and Dingle Distillery Vodka. 

The whiskey comprises mainly six—to seven-year-old spirits and has matured in PX Sherry (61%) and Bourbon (39%) first-fill casks. Head distiller Graham Coull argues using first-fill-only casks to produce a richer flavour. This whiskey is a welcome addition to the Dingle portfolio, supplementing their range of single-cask offerings.

Presentation during the tour
This distillery tour introduces visitors to Irish whiskey and the Dingle Distillery. Visitors are welcome to get a great insight into the complete production process right in the heart of this distilling plant. You will see all the processes as each stage is clearly explained. After the tour, a gin/vodka sample is provided; the gin has recently won “Best Gin in the World”. It is a delightful and educational experience. The distillery is located in a converted sawmill beside an estuary of Dingle Harbour. Tours operate throughout the day, and the Dingle Distillery Whiskey School is run on some weekends during the year. During the tour, you will get the opportunity to sample spirits and see the production site. Please note that production may not operate on certain days or afternoons; this depends on the production schedule.

The bottle and presentation are visually appealing. The bottle features the Dingle “Wren Boy” front amid eye-catching cerulean blue. This striking presentation should ensure it stands out from its competitors, many of which are at this price point. The initial faint smell of aniseed and liquorice, with some fruitiness and more zesty limes, is genuinely fresh. There is lots of sweetness, too; some After Eights and fizzy cola bottles drift into the nostrils. It tastes like loads of vanilla! An apparent influence comes from the bourbon cask and Caramac bars for nostalgia and light fudge. On the finish, there is more sweet vanilla—think burnt crème brulee—and some spice comes through. This whiskey will surprise you genuinely. Considering that it is Dingle’s first-ever core expression, it is complex but not overly so; no longer maturing would have over-complicated it, and less would not have given it its current character.

Elaborated whiskey
You will like everything about this whiskey: the whiskey itself, the water from 240 ft down, the packaging, and the apparent attentiveness. This isn’t a rushed release in response to the growing market: this whiskey has been developed through lessons learned and released only once the team were satisfied. Be sure this is a happy coincidence that fully matured whiskey was delivered promptly.

Dingle pioneered the Irish whiskey revival and was the first of the new distillers to start making whiskey. Their first release was a single cask of the second barrel to be filled at the distillery, which sold out rapidly. Thankfully, they have produced an ongoing release of their cask-strength single malt for you to enjoy. The company is hugely passionate about a flavoursome, well-crafted spirit.

It is in a converted sawmill in Milltown on the outskirts of Dingle, southwest of Ireland. The first whiskeys distilled and matured at the distillery were released in November 2016. Next year, Dingle Distillery became the first independent Irish distillery to release a single-pot still whiskey in several decades. The distillery also produces and markets Dingle Gin and Dingle vodka. It bills itself as an 'artisan' distillery. 

Creating whisky involves long fermentations in wooden vessels that feed into three copper pot stills, a 5,000-litre wash still and two progressively smaller spirit stills designed by John C. McDougall manual distillation. The maximum copper contact retains a bolder character even after the classic Irish triple distillation, which typically makes a lighter, cleaner spirit. This spirit is filled with quality first-fill bourbon, Pedro Ximénez, oloroso, and Port casks from trusted cask brokers.

The Founding Fathers
The Dingle Whiskey Distillery, located just outside the scenic town of Dingle, Co. Kerry, was Ireland’s first purpose-built distillery in over a century. Oliver Hughes, Liam Lahart and Peter Mosley had the vision to bring an artisan craft distillery to the picturesque town of Dingle. The future of the Irish Whiskey industry looks bright, and we, the team, are proud to have been the first to break the mould.

The distillery is an independent family-owned business, thanks to the Founding Fathers, who once invested in a cask. Each cask bears the Founding Father’s name, fill date, and cask number. Now that the spirit has come of age, investors can bottle their whiskey or sell their cask back to the distillery.

Dingle Distillery was put on the map when its Dry Gin was named the World’s Best Gin at the 2019 World Gin Awards. However, the Kerry-based distillery is known today as one of the few in the category that produces expressions entirely with its spirit.