Dingle 10yo Single Malt
Irish Single Malt Whiskey | 46.5% ABV
Score: 7/10
Very Good Indeed.
TL;DR
True to their excellent form and continued high standards
An Irish Whiskey to celebrate!
It's been a long time coming too.
The Irish Whiskey Industry has had its fair share of criticism over the years, also from me, in regard to its general ethics, direction, target market, pricing strategy and the sheer saturation of products and brands. In whisky circles it’s often viewed as cloaked in mysticism and, frankly, lies.
What you'll find on the island since the mid-2010s is a surge of new 'distilleries' washing onto the market. A real renaissance of an industry, charging back towards what it once was. Or at least, it seems like that.
While many broke ground and did build an actual distillery, what was also all too common was that we found ourselves inundated with Irish whiskey 'brands' who sourced their liquid disingenously, while ambiguous messaging sold deceitful stories of their own distilled whiskey. It's something that we've written about here before and it frustrates me still.
Too many bottles and brands were simply sourced from the same three distilleries. Walking into a duty free lounge in Belfast or Dublin was basically like trying to decipher a 'spot the difference' scene when, actually, they were all identical images.
I shared more details on the general state of sourcing in another Dingle review a few years ago.
However, credit where credit is due; some legitimate distilleries laid down their own liquid for maturation and released genuine expressions after a number of years. These are the producers that need to be separated from the crowd for individual praise and recognition.
Dingle, the subject for today, paved the way in my opinion, followed closely by Teeling (helped massively by a richness of casks); Rademon Estate also introduced themselves, as well as Sliabh Liag, Glendalough and Copeland, to name but a few. Each new legitimate producer brought a genuinely new character to Irish Whiskey, and each was different from the infamous but ubiquitous Single Pot Still, or fruity-yet-simple expressions often released by Cooley and Bushmills.
Throughout recent years we’ve seen Dingle release various expressions, some of which I’ve been able to buy - money, sadly, does not grow on trees - and of most of them I've been a fan. Their batches 1 through 6 were similar to the Kilkerran Work-In-Progress releases that were thoroughly enjoyable. A mixture of cask finishes showcased their liquid as it matured year upon year, culminating with the unveiling of their Dingle Single Malt - a core range anchor and an Irish permashelf option for me if there ever was one. There are simply not enough Irish Single Malt whiskies in the retail sweet-spot of around the £40/50 mark.
Alongside these, we saw a series that roots its story in the Celtic Wheel of the Year. I'm all for this Highland Park-esque multi-release, but as a one-off. It plucks a branch from Irish/Celtic historical culture, language and holiday festivities as the main theme. The Celtic wheel of the year is a solar calendar that marks time throughout the year and its seasons, each embraced and given a dedicated bottle of release by Dingle.
While the past ten years have brought a healthy set of expressions and releases from Dingle Distillery (through gin, single malt and pot still whiskey), we’ve been waiting on a milestone such as this ten year old. However, while it was quietly maturing, there was concern when we saw a change in personnel around March 2024 with the departure of Master Distiller Graham Coull.
Before his tenure at Dingle, Graham spent fourteen years at Glen Moray and, before that, he was distillery manager for Glenfiddich, Balvenie and Kininvie. A depth of experience was harnessed as he departed Scotland for Southwest Ireland to head up production at Dingle.
Along with his experience, it’s my feeling that he brought a stability as well as influencing the development of the Dingle character. In my opinion, it was scotch-esque, but still somehow its own thing. Clear quality and integrity to the craft was demonstrated early on and they haven't departed from that recipe since, even with the departure of Graham. A testament to the entire team.
I was like most others when we learned the news about the departure of the experienced hands of Graham Coull, we all feared the worst. It arrived alongside rumours and stories of multiple closures and mothballing of distilleries throughout the British Isles for various reasons, mostly financial. Yet Dingle kept going, and I sense this new ten year old milestone is only the start for them. Paddy Foley's name might be the one on the bottle, but it’s the product of more than a decade, the fingerprints of the entire team are all over this release. They are all part of cultivating the charm and character of what Dingle Whiskey is today.
With a fresh new look and a bold age statement, it brings excitement for the next decade. It’s a personal opinion but, to me, they continue to set the standard within the Irish whiskey industry when it comes to pricing, quality, flavour, transparency and plain old honesty that many others would do well in attempting to follow.
Review
Dingle 10yo, Irish Single Malt Whiskey, maturation of three cask types: Bourbon – 65%; Port – 30% and Pedro Ximénez – 5%, 46.5% ABV
£67 and still some availability at time of writing
Score: 7/10
Very Good Indeed.
TL;DR
True to their excellent form and continued high standards
Nose
Fresh Apple and honeydew melon. Yeasty - with a nice bread note here; plums too. Pure Dingle foundation and character. It’s perfumed and sweet with a floral touch and icing sugar. Pine needles, pineapple cubes with candied orange peel and fresh honeycomb.
Such a lovely bright and inviting nose.
Palate
The arrival is laced with strawberry confectionery; bonbons. Wood spices with nutmeg and sliced ginger. Raspberry jam. Caramel and toasted pecans. Beautifully sweet, vibrant and delicious. A great texture here too, it coats the palate nicely and brings forward more wood spice and ground coffee with a long finish.
With complexity and grip, it rounds off with chocolate cherries and orange marmalade.
The Dregs
I can still taste this as I write the dregs.
Like I mentioned before, that delicious Dingle foundation is right there - amplified with even more fruit sweetness and spice. The most mature release to date brings enough added complexity and depth to have me reaching for more.
I was excited when I saw the social media announcements around this. The price was brilliant in comparison to far too many other Irish whiskey bottles out there. They’re not immaculate - I’m aware of a single cask 10 year old offering that Dingle released a short while back, but that one was for the collectors, less so the drinkers. Fair enough I suppose.
But this new 10-year-old, intended for everyone, met my expectations and then some. As a fan of their core range Single Malt, I was super keen to see how decade old liquid would compare. The fruity, doughy, bready Dingle character was there throughout and its testament to the quality and love the team have for their product.
They’re not subverting expectations or throwing curve balls, they’re not dressing one thing up as something else; no smoke, no mirrors, no obfuscation - these guys are doing the right thing. It makes sense that we taste that.
Alongside this 10yo we also have a new-look core range. It includes a single malt at around €50, as well as a core Single Pot Still offering around €60. Both are on the hit list and - alongside this new flagship - deserve to do the business during whisky season and the cold run up to the year's end.
A super new release that’s showing us what the future could hold for decent Irish whiskey.
Score: 7/10
Tried this? Share your thoughts in the comments below. HF
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