Dingle Distillery has launched its first two whiskies, following on from Dingle Original Gin and Dingle Distillery Vodka.
The distillery, located in an old sawmill on the fringes of Dingle, grew out of the success of The Porterhouse Brewing Company. Founders Oliver Hughes, Liam LaHart and Peter Mosley branched out from craft brewing to bring an artisan craft distillery to the Kerry town, and the first spirit trickled from the stills in December 2012.
Sadly, Oliver Hughes died last August at the age of 57, before he could sample the final product, but his son Elliot Hughes was on hand for the tasting of the first bottles.
“The immense success of Dingle Original Gin has paved the way for our new whiskey," said Hughes. "We are not creating megabrands or distilling for anyone else. At just two casks a day, our output may be modest, but our ambition is to create a whiskey of superlative quality and unique character, and I believe we have achieved that with Dingle Whiskey.”
The operating company for the distillery business, Drioglann Uisce Beatha Dhaingeann Ui Chuis Teo, booked a net profit of €2.8m in the year to February 2015, according to very sparse abridged accounts. Capital invested at year-end was €1,766,000 and net worth was €2.8m
In Association with
The two Dingle whiskies, Dingle Whiskey and Dingle Whiskey Cask Strength, are packaged in bottles featuring a painting by Liam O’Neill, which commemorates the 100th anniversary of the 1916 Rising.
Dingle Whiskey is 46.5% ABV and the Cask Strength is 60.7%. 7,500 bottles of the Whiskey and 500 of the Cask Strength have been produced to date, according to Hughes, priced at €65 and €120 a bottle respectively.
Using a wooden wash-back and fermentation tanks, the whiskey it is triple distilled using three individual copper pot stills. The result, say the partners, has an aroma of vanilla, almonds and cereal sweetness, with flavour notes of marzipan, vanilla and hay, and hints of aniseed and liquorice.
Photo: Elliot Hughes (centre) with Liam LaHart (left) and Peter Mosley. (Pic: Sasko Lazarov/Photocall Ireland)
