Dunville's 1808 Blended Irish Whiskey
Dunville's · The Echlinville Distillery
A quietly confident blend that punches well above its price — approachable enough for newcomers, layered enough to reward the patient drinker. A benchmark for how sherry can flatter Irish grain and malt.
Nose
Honeyed cereal opens first, followed by orange marmalade, toasted almond, and a soft whisper of sherry-soaked raisin. A gentle vanilla warmth lingers underneath.
Palate
Smooth and rounded, with malted barley, honey, and stewed apple giving way to dried apricot, cocoa dust, and a light nuttiness from the Pedro Ximénez influence.
Finish
Medium-length and warming, closing on dark caramel, clove, and a final lick of sweet oak.
- Distillation
- Combination of pot still malt whiskey and column still grain whiskey, sourced and finished under Echlinville stewardship
- Maturation
- Matured in ex-bourbon barrels, with a finishing period in Pedro Ximénez sherry casks
- Single Pot Still
- No
- Chill-Filtered
- Yes
Cocktail Suggestion
The Ards Held — 2 oz Dunville's 1808, 0.5 oz Pedro Ximénez sherry, 2 dashes orange bitters, 1 dash Angostura. Stir over ice for 30 seconds, strain into a chilled coupe, and express an orange peel over the surface before dropping it in.
Food Pairing
Aged Coolea cheese with fig jam and toasted walnut bread, or a slice of dense date-and-almond cake.
Silenced in 1936 when the historic Royal Irish Distilleries closed in Belfast, the Dunville's name lay dormant for nearly eighty years before being revived by the Echlinville Distillery on the Ards Peninsula — a decision to reawaken rather than reinvent.
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