Location Dingle Founded 2012 Status Operating | Owner Porterhouse Group Founder Oliver Hughes Water source Onsite deep well | |
Dingle Distillery is an Irish whiskey distillery established in 2012 and billing itself as an 'artisan' distillery. The first whiskeys distilled and matured at the distillery were released in late 2016. The distillery is located in a converted sawmill in Milltown on the outskirts of Dingle, in a Gaeltacht (Irish-speaking region) in the southwest of Ireland.
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Background
The Irish whiskey industry suffered a period of severe decline in the 20th century, which saw most of Ireland's distilleries close, and those remaining in operation amalgamating under the ownership of a single company, Irish Distillers, in the 1970s. However, since then, Ireland's whiskey industry has undergone a resurgence, in particular since 2010, with a diversification of both output and ownership.
With the number of operating distilleries in the country having fallen to just two in the 1980s, Ireland now boasts sixteen operating distilleries, with many others planned. When it opened, the Dingle Distillery was Ireland's fifth, joining the New Midleton Distillery (where Jameson, Powers and Paddy are produced, among others), Bushmills, Cooley and Kilbeggan.
History
The initiative to start a distillery in Dingle was that of the now deceased Oliver Hughes, who was also a founder of the Porterhouse brewing and restaurant group. The site, formerly the Fitzgerald sawmill, was converted for whiskey production in 2012, opening on 29 November. The distillery was reported to have created 25 jobs, with more anticipated with the launch of a visitors' centre. The new copper pot stills used at the distillery were designed by John McDougall.
Products
Using pot stills the distillery produces two casks of whiskey per day in Dingle, where the mildly cool climate is reportedly favourable for whiskey production. The distillery also has a still for the production of gin and vodka.
Under Irish law, to be termed whiskey, a spirit is legally required to be matured for at least three years. Therefore, Dingle Distillery only brought its first batch of whiskey to market in late 2016. The first batch included two triple distilled, single malt whiskeys: a 7,500 bottle 46.5% release, and a 500-bottle 60.7% cask strength release. Both editions were matured solely in bourbon casks.
As a promotion to attract investors, Dingle Distillery offered the first five hundred special casks to investors "Founding Fathers", to be ready for bottling from November 2016.