Dingle Single Malt
Batch 6 | 46.5% ABV
Score: 6/10
Good stuff.
TL;DR
Another banger from Dingle with a fresh & fruit forward finish
Some whiskies just throw up vivid memories with every sniff and sip.
There are a few whiskies that really strike a great memory whenever I visit them time and time again.
Lagavulin 16 & Ledaig 10 bring me back to a bright spring evening when I tried the two drams for the first time back to back. That was the beginning of my love for whisky after sipping those delights, as I was taken aback at how flavoursome each was and surprised myself that smoke/peat/maritime was enjoyable in a dram.
Glenfiddich 12 always brings me back to where my curiosity in whisky really began, as well as some old Cooley Irish whiskey distillate that I had on my 30th birthday in Dublin.
As Gallie shared her experience of the Glasgow Whisky Festival 2022 in the brilliant Ben Nevis review, I couldn’t help but feel excited for this year's festival as well as look back at trying some lovely whiskies at festivals whenever I've had the chance. While pacing myself as best I can, tactically planning out what drams to try before my palate is completely fried, Dingle and their whiskey brings back some lovely memories from when I first sampled it, to revisiting the delicious liquid again down the line.
Belfast hasn’t had much in the way of whisky festivals over the past decade, with the Whisky Social becoming the main event over the past 4-5 years. With a large focus on the Irish whiskey industry (which is to be expected really), it’s always been a social event that turned out to be great value for money given the whiskies to sample on the day.
Now, while these new brands and distilleries emerge and begin to establish their own distillery, distillate and mature product… a whiskey festival focus majorly on Irish whiskey… that’s pretty much all sourced from the same handful of distilleries on the Island (might as well call a spade a spade, because to be honest a lot of Irish brands are sourced, but that won’t be stated on the label), the samples offered can become a bit samey very quickly.
It is a great event that allows you to find out directly from the producer what their future distillery and brand plans are. An incredible example is the likes of Titanic Distillers, who have already begun converting the old dry dock pump house in Belfast into their own distillery. A fantastic part of the city that was a key location during the construction of the Titanic & Olympic ships at the Belfast shipyards.
A lot to look forward to within the Irish Whiskey industry, but we just have to be patient.
However, the more interesting conversations and moments (to me), can be found with the Irish whiskey brands that have released their own made whiskey. It seems that the move away from sourced liquid is slowly but surely beginning to happen. Connacht Whiskey released a three-year and 1 day old Single Malt back in 2021, which I got to try at the Belfast Social. A decent dram, embodying everything about Irish Malt (light, fruity and soft), it’s a breath of fresh air to the industry and something that enthusiasts can look forward to as their liquid matures & develops over the years.
Even north of the border you have Rademon Estate Distillery which produces Shortcross Gin, released their own Single Malt Irish whiskey with plans to produce a peated malt and even some single pot still whiskey. It was only a few weeks ago when Archibald Grampian and I visited the Echlinville Distillery, about 45 minutes outside of Belfast. Echlinville produces Dunville Single Malt and Old Comber pot still Irish whiskey. Not to give much away from our tour, but we were spoiled by the drams poured for us straight from the cask of some exceptional whiskies. It was in nosing these samples (I was the designated driver that day) that brought me back to a fun experience at the Belfast Social that involved Dunvilles and Dingle whiskey.
Attending with my father-in-law and brother-in-law, it wasn’t too long before my father-in-law felt a bit relaxed & comfortable in himself where he just started pouring his own measures, without asking, time and time again. To the bemusement of the Echlinville brand ambassador at the time, it was all in good spirit and taken as a compliment on how much the liquid was being enjoyed. The same wasn’t done over at the table of Dingle whiskies. But each time I sip Dingle, I'm brought back to the three of us taking that first sip and just saying out loud, ‘Damn…this is very good’. It was the most enjoyed liquid on the day, and a bottle was purchased for my father-in-law for his 60th. More memories tied to Dingle and their delicious single malt and pot still Irish whiskies.
It just goes to show that with more patience, we’ll be able to sample these own brand-made whiskies over the next number of years and really see where the Irish Whiskey industry will go as the flavours move away from the sourced foundations from Great Northern, Bushmills or West Cork for example.
Review
Dingle Single Malt, Batch 6, 47.5% ABV
£65 still available online (£60 paid)
A big thanks to Dave Cummins, brand ambassador for the Porterhouse Group, the parent company of Dingle. Dave passed on some press release information regarding their Batch 6 release. Dave is always a great lad for a chat when representing Dingle, and he’ll treat you to some under-the-table pours if you’re nice enough (just don’t pour them yourself!).
This is their sixth and final whisky in the single malt batch series, with an all port maturation. Turnout for this batch is 15,000 bottles, with 1,000 cask-strength bottles released (which is a very good whiskey).
Check out the brilliant read by Broddy with his take on Port and Scotch in whisky, which really put me in the mood for this Dingle.
Nose
Fruity, light and deliciously sweet. Plums with stone fruits…apricots and red grapes. Slight hint of dried wood, with a lovely yeast and doughy bread foundation that’s a staple in Dingle malt whiskey. A touch of honey and ground ginger. Butterscotch sauce, orange marmalade and reminiscent of a glass of mulled wine.
Palate
Soft & mellow. A slow build of spice with a clean mouthfeel that coats the tongue like velvet. Elements of maple syrup, fluffy pancakes all topped with redcurrants, dates and raspberries. Bags of fruit and that’s intertwined with spice. Back end rounds off with a little dark chocolate, medium enough finish with that fruit sweetness lasting and the succulent Dingle foundational flavour right there with a berry twist.
The Dregs
In my opinion, Irish single malt with a port maturation is a match made in heaven. While I do have a heavy preference for all things Scotch (with a wee waft of smoke), there’s just something about Irish malt that’s had a lick or two or port thrown in there. This Dingle cements that viewpoint even further. I’m a big fan of what the folks are doing down there in the Southwest of Ireland, and I hope to pay them a visit sometime. Previous batches have shown us their liquid evolution before the core range single malt was introduced to us all. I think I'll pick up a few more of these bottles when I can because they won’t stick around for long.
A lot of the Single Malt offerings today within the Irish Whiskey industry aren’t anything to shout home about, or offer anything ‘memorable’. There isn’t much difference bar the label on the bottle sometimes, and those liquids would score lower than what I've given this Dingle. Dingle is setting the standard for what we can expect in the future on the island of Ireland, in terms of flavour, consistency and value for money. They are in good hands too, and I for one can’t wait to see what else they have in store for us.
Score: 6/10
Tried this? Share your thoughts in the comments below. HF
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