Dunville's - Three Crowns - Review

"Until recently the only place you could find a bottle of Three Crowns was at auction.  Now, we’re reviving this great whiskey to bring its flavour to a new generation."

Bold words indeed, but these are the words that greet you on the Echlinville webpage dedicated to the upcoming re-launch of this once revered Dunville's brand.

Since 2013, when they received the first Northern Irish distillers licence in around 125 years, Echlinville Distillery has been going from strength to strength with their new distillery / visitors centre and the introduction of some fine whiskey and gin to local market.

This has been further backed up with their PX finished 10 year old single malt being awarded "Best Irish Single Malt (12 years and under)" at the recent Irish Whiskey Awards.

Exciting times certainly lie ahead and we won't have to wait too long to enjoy what they have to offer with the upcoming launch of Dunville's "Three Crowns".

As Shane Braniff, founder of Echlinville Distillery, proudly states on their website - "It is one of the founding goals of our new distillery to bring Dunville's whiskey back to the world."

The original "Three Crowns" was introduced way back in 1830's and lasted around 100 years before being discontinued.  Many bottles are still in circulation and the original style of the whiskey was similar to Dunville's "VR" with the "Three Crowns" using more sherry casks for the maturation.

Fast forward to the present day and what "Three Crowns" delivers this time around is a fine blend of malt and grain whiskeys. 

Echlinville are very kind in letting us in on some of the detail by stating that the whiskey is made up with 4 year old grain, 10 year old malt and 15 year old malt finished in Oloroso casks. 

The whiskey has then been bottled at 46% ABV, which I'm sure you will agree is a pleasant surprise for a blended whiskey.

Thinking about the original style of "Three Crowns", I've no doubt that the use of the Oloroso finished malt, in this modern interpretation, is possibly a small nod to the whiskey that came before.

I for one have been waiting a while for this whiskey, ever since I first knew about it's impending release, as I know the people at Echlinville are extremely passionate about what they produce and I am hopeful that this blend delivers as expected.  Let's see.

Onto my notes:

Nose - Initially sweet with malt but this quickly gives way to fresh, crisp, grain spirit.  Crisp green orchard fruits, lemon biscuit and light toffee.  The sherry element is light but evident, with a little dark fruit gently wrapped around the fresher notes.  A slight hint of old oak comes through and this brings a certain richness to the nose.  You get the sense that the higher strength has benefitted this whiskey.  A little stewed orange and light pepper, which feels like it has arrived courtesy of the casks.  This displays a great balance and you nearly forget it's a blend you are nosing.  All the while the spirit retains a nice intensity and with time the sherry has little more of a say with a dash of dried fruit.

Palate - Initially sweet with malt barley, and you get a little more of the older oak, before the crisp grains and gentle spice take over.  Light citrus orange, lemon and green apples.  Pepper and clove are the main protagonists when it comes to the spice and these are backed up with a hint of dry wood spice.  The sherry element is harder to find, than on the nose, but appears towards the end in the merest of forms.  The palate is all about the younger grain spirit, which is vibrant and challenging, in a good way.  You need to take your time with this whiskey.  Don't go rushing in to it as you would with a basic supermarket blend, allow it time to open and use a little water which will allow more of the sweeter malt to shine through.

Finish - Medium to short with green apple, sour green apple and a decent dry sweetness.

Overall I have to say I'm really impressed with this blend.  The nose starts off all malt before moving into the lighter spirit notes of fresh fruit.  The addition of the older, Oloroso finished, malt is a smart move as it brings enough richness to balance the whiskey out while maybe rounding off some of the slightly rougher notes, that may have been found prior to it's addition, but hey that's one of the reasons behind blending.

In my opinion the nose is, without doubt, superior to the palate but don't let that worry you, the palate holds up perfectly in it's own right.

What this presents is a whiskey that delivers a little more than you would expect from the majority of other blends.  This isn't a whiskey to quaff at your leisure, but one that demands a little  more time and attention.  The higher strength is definitely a major player behind this, and I for one I'm happy it's at 46% as 40% might have flattened this whiskey.

What we have here is another fine example that Echlinville have arrived onto the local whiskey scene meaning serious business.  They are determined to make their mark by producing whiskeys that pack serious flavour and I for one think they are getting it spot on.

I can't wait to see how things move along when their own spirit is ready for release, I think it could be something very special indeed.

Until next time,

Slainte.

SI

Echlinville - Port Morant Rum Finish - Preview / Review - 1 year on

Last year I brought you all a preview / review of something very special that Echlinville Distillery are currently working on.  This was their single malt that is currently being finished in a Port Morant rum casks.  For anyone wishing to see the original update, along with tasting notes from last year, you can do so by clicking here.

For those of you that want to cut straight to the chase I shall recap.

In 2015 Echlinville acquired some 14yo whiskey, my guess is that it may be from Cooley, and set about placing it into some very interesting casks.  Echlinville pulled out all the stops and managed to get their hands on rum casks from the exclusive Port Morant distillery in Guyana.

The casks, that held the flavoursome rum for many years, are now transferring the aged flavours onto this Irish whiskey.

The first sample I received was after the whiskey had only been in the casks for a few weeks and the most recent sample I received was just over a year later, making this now firmly in the 15yo category.

For information the first sample I received was at 50% ABV, and this most recent sample was straight from the cask, but it remains to be seen what strength the final release shall come out at. 

As with the first review I'd just like to highlight that any notes listed below should be slightly different to the final release but, as you will see, I doubt there will much to worry about, with regards how the final release should taste.

Onto my notes:

Nose - Initially heavy with fresh green apple but this quickly moves into smooth vanilla wood, rum and raisin ice cream and even banana ice cream.  The fruit flavours are rich and intense, no doubt brought on by the cask strength nature of the alcohol, yet the smooth oak encompasses them beautifully.  Some deeper notes lurk in here also with stewed orange and a little hint of raspberry.  The balance between spirit, wood and rum influence is very nice indeed.  As the dram opens up the fruit flavours begin to dominate with further banana in the form of foam banana sweets and a little banoffee pie.  There's not much spice on the nose and I feel this may be the wood having a nice restraining effect.  Right at the end there's also a little touch of white grape.  With water the fruit is intensified and the oak vanilla becomes more prominent.

Palate - Intense, dry arrival and a lovely balance of fruit and oak spice.  The fruit comes in with more fresh green apple, banana cream, and more rum and raisin ice cream.  We now also have spice in the form of prickly black pepper which brings a nice extra dimension.  The influence bestowed upon this whiskey, by the cask, is big, bold and pretty darn good.  The oak has brought a lip smacking dryness that arrives from the first sip and lingers long after the dram is finished.  The intensity of the alcohol brings a hint of grappa which ties in with the white grape picked up on the nose.  With water the fruit is again softened down.

Finish - Medium length, dry yet juicy and extremely delicious.

Overall this is a seriously good Irish fruit bomb of a whiskey.  This is turning into the beast I had hoped it would become nearly a year ago.

The fruit notes are deep, rich and intense.  I feel that this whiskey is nearly ready to be taken from the cask and bottled for everyone to enjoy. 

When it is released I shall be interested to see what strength Echlinville end up choosing for the final bottling.  The two samples I have tasted are probably both higher in ABV, than how the final product shall be presented, but I hope they keep the strength high to show off all the rich ,intense goodness that is packed into this whiskey.

Echlinville are certainly moving from strength to strength, and gaining a lot of admirers on the way, and I have no doubt that once they release this Port Morant finished whiskey they will gain a hell of a lot more.

Until next time,

Sláinte

SI

Dunville's VR - 10 year old - Review

Back in February, this year, I brought you all news of a brand new release coming from Echlinville Distillery, Co. Down, Northern Ireland. 

The release was of course Dunville's VR 10 year old single malt. 

This is the second release under the reinvigorated Dunville's label and if you wish to catch up on my release update then go ahead and click right here for a recap.

This new release is a 10 year old single malt, bottled at 46% ABV, non-chill filtered and finished for around a year in a PX sherry cask.  

With regards price I had initially stated that it was to hit the shelves at just under £50 but Master of Malt currently have this on sale for £44.62. 

Those of you who have followed this blog for a while would remember, back in February 2014, I reviewed the first release of the Dunville's VR, which was a blend, and I raised a few points that I felt would need to happen for this brand to achieve the status it is aiming for and, judging by the presentation of this 10 year old, Echlinville are moving rapidly in the right direction as they wait patiently for their own spirit to mature.

Further to this vast improvement, since I last wrote about this release in February, this whiskey hit the world stage in spectacular fashion when the World Whiskies Awards recently awarded the Dunville's VR 10 year old the award of "Best Irish Single Malt - 12 years and under" for 2015!!

Now, while I've no idea, presently, which other whiskeys the Dunville's VR was up against, this is an unbelievable achievement and brings the brand back into the limelight with a bang.  I can only imagine how chuffed Shane Braniff was with this result knowing the passion and effort he is putting into his brand and distillery.

Seeing as the whiskey has clearly wowed the judges at the World Whiskies Awards I may as well share my humble opinion....

Onto my notes:

Nose - Initially tropical with good hints of banana and a little coconut water but quite quickly some nice fresh fruit also appears with green + red apple and lemon sweets.  The sherry finish is not immediately obvious.  Some light pepper and a slight buttered note.  Sherry finally starts to appear but in a gentle fashion with light mixed spice and buttered red fruits.  The finish has been handled with care and allows the original spirit to stay in control without the sherry over dominating.  Right at the end a slight perfumed note also shows through.  With a little water a distinct dusty note appears giving a nice sense of age.

Palate - Initially sweet with malt and light berry.  Some black pepper and chilli heat arrives but this really benefits from the 46% ABV.  The dusty note sits in the background, presumably from the sherry casks, and with a little water the whiskey becomes much sweeter and sherried with more mixed spice, stewed strawberry and some dryness into the finish.

Finish - On the short side of medium but enjoyable with a lip smacking finish of red fruit.

Overall this is an excellent improvement on the 1st release.  I know they are two completely different styles of whiskey but in terms of direction we're now definitely heading upwards.

In honesty I initially struggled to get to grips with this release, when I first opened the bottle, as it was unlike any other Irish whiskey I'd tried before and in my opinion it reminded me more of some Scottish malts I have in my collection.

As I moved through the bottle though the familiar tropical fresh fruit notes, I was fully expecting, came to the fore and I am now fully enjoying each glass.  This whiskey can't be rushed, and needs a little time to open up, but the reward is a glass of whiskey that is well balanced and full of flavour.

The finish of this release is very impressive and gives you just a hint of sherry without overpowering the original spirit.  I believe that future releases may have a slightly longer finish, in the PX casks, and I think this will enhance the spirit even more.  Whatever the standard of the casks being used, they are imparting just the right influence needed to bring this whiskey up a level or two.

Without doubt Echlinville, and the Dunville's brand, are going in the right direction and all I can say is here's to the future.

Lastly I'd just like to say a huge thank you to Shane Braniff for the sample bottle.

Until next time,

Sláinte

SI

New Release - Dunville's - Very Rare 10 year old

A while back you may remember I brought you all an exclusive regarding the re-emergence of the Dunville's Irish Whiskey brand and this was promptly followed up by a review of the "Dunville's - Very Rare", which was the first bottling to be released under the title of Dunville's in nearly 60 years.

To recap quickly I feel it is important, for those who haven't seen the original update, to quickly go over again where this re-emergence has come from.

Around the start of June 2013 a distillers licence was granted to Echlinville Distillery, which is situated on the Echlinville estate in the small town of Kircubbin, County Down, Northern Ireland, and with this it became the first Northern Irish distillery to receive a licence for over 125 years.

It is this very distillery, under the owenership of Shane Braniff, a businessman from the local area, who is also responsible for bringing you the Feckin' Irish Whiskey brand, that has got it's hands on the "Dunville's" brand and they are intent on reviving the great memory of Dunville's by producing a top quality product to sit in it's bottles.

Echlinville itself has big ambitions for it's own spirit and a quick look on their site shows that they are producing single malt and pot still whiskey, which seem to be maturing in a variety of casks, and the first releases of this unique whiskey should be with us by 2016.

In the meantime though, and as seems the norm, we have these releases of Dunville's appearing, not only to seemingly get the money rolling in, but also for, in my opinion, another more honest reason.  I get a genuine sense that Shane Braniff has a very real desire to get this once great brand back to where it belongs, not as a stop gap, until the distillery's own whiskey is released, but as a high quality product to stand proud in it's own right on the same shelves.

Whilst the ambition is there, and I wrote previously of my excitement of seeing the brand back in our off licences, there was, in my opinion, an initial let down with the first release of the Dunville's - Very Rare.

Not to dwell on it too much I shall simply say that I felt as though it was a rushed release with little substance and little care seemingly put into the finished product and it really showed when tasting.
  
A final point I also noted in the previous review was - "I fully understand the need to get the brand out there with this initial release but I feel if they are to release other bottlings, prior to their own spirit being matured, then, cost permitting, they should secure some matured whiskey that will really start to add a touch of quality to their brand."

Well, I must be clairvoyant.

Last week I was fortunate enough to be invited to meet Shane Braniff where I received a bottle of what, apart from a slight change in labelling, is to be the next release of Dunville's - Very Rare and I have to say they are certainly going in the right direction.

This new release is a Irish malt whiskey that will be hitting the shops with an age statement of 10 years old.  Obviously not from Echlinville itself, the spirit has been obtained from elsewhere but "finished" by Echlinville in their warehouses on the County Down coast.

The finish is in the form of PX casks in which the whiskey has been rounded off for about a year and the added quality doesn't stop there.

This new release also benefits from a higher bottling strength of 46% and has not been chill filtered.  On speaking to Shane Braniff he is quick to point out that they do have a chill filtration unit on site, so to bottle this whiskey without the use of this facility is solely down to a desire to obtain that higher quality that the brand deserves.

I've included a picture of the label as it sits at the moment to give you an idea of how it will look when it hit's the shops.

As I mentioned there are a few last minute changes planned for the label, but once finalised the whiskey will be released with a price point of just under £50.  Considering the first release was £29.99 I feel an extra £20 for the extra quality mentioned is a fair amount.

Whether the whiskey itself is worth £50 remains to be seen but on initial taste I can say that there is certainly a lot of potential and I look forward to really getting into the bottle with the hope of positively reporting back soon that Dunville's is now hitting the heights it should be.

Until next time,

Sláinte

SI

Dunville's - Very Rare - Irish Whiskey - Review

A while back I brought you a bit of an internet exclusive with the news that the Dunville's Irish Whiskey Brand was returning to our shelves via the new Northern Irish distillery Echlinville, which is based not far from Belfast in a small town called Kircubbin.  

For those of you who missed it you can check out that blog update by clicking right here.

Back in the "Dunville's Irish Whiskey is back…sort of" update I mentioned I would be buying a bottle for review and also seeking out further information on the whiskey.  

Well there's been success on both fronts so here we go.

The new style bottle of Dunville's

The whiskey itself is a traditional 20/80 blend of malt to grain and due to their current confidential supply agreement Echlinville are unable to state from which Irish distillery(s) it has originated from.  In my opinion I would say that both grain and malt are from the Cooley distillery stock.

The grain whiskies are 4 & 5 year old and the malts are between 5 & 8 years old, however they have deliberately made no mention of aging as they are planning to release aged malts in the fullness of time.

The whiskies were brought to the distillery, in their separate casks, where they were blended straight from cask and bottled.

It has been bottled at 40% ABV and without doubt there's some caramel added and presumably chill filtration.

The ‘Very Rare Irish Whiskey’ notation on the label is a reference to the limited quantity of bottles available so to this extent when it’s done - it’s done!!

With regards cost the bottle I bought was priced at £29.99.

The distillery also informed me that in time they are confident that their maturing stock will move Dunville’s Irish Whiskey into the 21^st century.

It is this last statement I wish to focus on as, after trying the offering they have bottled for this relaunch, I don't feel they have quite hit the mark just yet.  Hopefully "in time" they can live up to their confidence and release their own matured spirit to make their mark on the Irish whiskey scene, after all variety is the spice of life.

Onto the tasting notes:

Nose - Light grain spirit, some hints of sweet malt, honey, fresh apple, light oak which I would even expand to say has a touch of smoke / char / toasted wood.  Light spice, hint of vanilla and banana.  To be honest the nose is quite enjoyable.  Good mix of fruit and toasty notes.

Palate - Again it's a light, young spirit.  The wood influence that came through on the nose is completely invisible here.  The few flavours I could find were pepper, orange and more apple.

Finish - Short and non-existent apart from a blast of heat.

Now for a conclusion which I shall take a little time over.  

Firstly I've never sampled a whiskey that has such a pleasant nose with a such flat taste.  The nose was quite fresh and definitely had a nice wood touch yet the taste simply did not match up.  The palate was flat and quite frankly a non-event.  I don't really know what the problem is but I would speculate that, as I feel this whiskey has come from Cooley, the original owners of the spirit (Beam Global) have sold on whatever they had lying so as not to impact on their own stocks.  Even though the wood in the nose is quite evident I get the feeling that the casks used, in maturing this whiskey, were on their last legs.

Secondly, if the whiskey has come from Cooley then, a fair comparison to make would be with the Titanic 5 year old.  The Titanic 5 is much more the finished article compared to this Dunville's Irish Whiskey.  With a bit more thought a possible answer to this is that the Belfast Distillery Company, the creators of Titanic Whiskey, managed to secure the whiskey for their product prior to Beam Global taking over Cooley meaning they maybe got a better deal or a better selection of casks.  

To be honest this is all pure guess work but thought it best to give you some form of opinion based upon possibilities.

Lastly all I would like to say is this.  I am without doubt very grateful that Echlinville Distillery is here.  Anything that brings jobs and investment to this part of the world is nothing but good and for it to be in the form of whiskey production is all the better.  With this in mind though I really do hope they go that step further and match their ambition with a high quality product of their own.  I fully understand the need to get the brand out there with this initial release but I feel if they are to release other bottlings, prior to their own spirit being matured, then, cost permitting, they should secure some matured whiskey that will really start to add a touch of quality to their brand.

In it's heyday Irish whiskey was a force to be reckoned with and with a little bit of luck we can get back to that proud standing but if we are to get there then our new distilleries need to aim high and create genuine competition for the Yellow Spot's, Redbreast's and Bushmills of this island.  I for one shall have my fingers crossed.  

Well, as I said, I'll shall be continuing to push on with more reviews and thankfully I've enough to keep me going with samples of the new Discovery Road range and a few wee other gems too.  These shall be happily dissected and brought to you all in Whisky Belfast form ASAP.

Until next time though,

Slainte.

SI

Dunville's Irish Whiskey is back…sort of

Bout ye (or hello, how are you),

How's everyone keeping out there in the whiskey world?  I hope you all had an amazing New Year which was spent with friends, family and your favourite dram.

Yet another late night blog update but there's a method to my madness.  I'm sitting here typing away furiously in the hope I have a whiskey exclusive.

It appears that the "Dunville's Irish Whiskey" brand is back on our shelves after maybe 60 odd years.

Whilst perusing the whiskey cabinet at my favourite Belfast off sales my attention was drawn to a bottle of Dunville's Very Rare Irish Whiskey which was sitting neatly on the top shelf priced at £29.99.  Now whilst most people would faint at the thought of such a bargain (original bottles can go for anything up to £1000) my eager eyes also noted that the label and seal on the bottle were most definitely brand spanking new.

Upon asking an employee to open the cabinet, to allow me to examine further, he promptly went behind the main counter of the store and picked up one of three other bottles that happened to be sitting there..not such the exclusive I thought I was on to.  Nonetheless my interest had been roused and my primary goal was now not to nab what I thought was an utter bargain but to work out what exactly I was looking at.

Examination of the label on the back revealed a little bit of the mystery.  Smack bang in the middle were the words Echlinville Distillery.

Now, what or where is Echlinville Distillery, I hear you ask.

Around the start of June 2013 a distillers licence was granted to Echlinville Distillery, which is situated on the Echlinville estate in the small town of Kircubbin, County Down, Northern Ireland, and with this it becomes the first distillery to receive a licence in Northern Ireland for over 125 years.

Around the same time a planning application was approved for a state-of-the-art distillery complex complete with visitors’ centre, restaurant, bar, distillation hall, maturing warehousing and museum.  At the moment it would seem that they have 1 still already in operation and have also filled their first barrels.  Plans are afoot to further increase the operation by adding an extra 2 stills by September this year and hopefully the visitors' centre should be open in a couple of years time.

The driving force behind this venture is a man by the name of Shane Braniff, a businessman from the local area, who is also responsible for bringing you the Feckin' Irish Whiskey brand.

Now that I hopefully have covered a bit about Echlinville I shall return to the whiskey.  

Unfortunately not much else was shown on the label apart from the statement that it was produced in Northern Ireland and has been bottled at 40% ABV.  Without tasting the whiskey it looks like it's a very basic blend with, no doubt, some colour added, but as to the contents I have no idea.  I shall guess however that, since Feckin' Irish Whiskey comes from the Cooley Distillery then this, possibly, could also could be from a batch from Cooley sold prior to Beam Global taking over.  

I have already set about finding out more info for you all and intend to buy a bottle ASAP to return my opinion on what the contents are like.

Whilst waiting for the further updates I've added a few images and linked up the Feckin' web page and Facebook page for further reading.  These can be found at the bottom of this post.

Until next time,

Slainte.

SI

Location of Kircubbin which is found by travelling east from Belfast, through Newtownards and then south east  on the other side of Greyabbey.

Echlinville estate.

For Feckin' Irish Whiskey Facebook page click here.

For Feckin' Irish Whiskey Webpage click here.