Dunville’s 1808 Blended Irish Whiskey (40%)
Belfast’s Dunville brand was a major Irish whiskey during the nineteenth century, enduring and, indeed, thriving through five generations of the Dunville family’s stewardship. By the end of that century, according to the distillery website, Ireland was producing 14 million gallons of whiskey per year, 2.5 million of which was produced by the Royal Irish Distilleries, where Dunville’s was made.
Unfortunately, as was the case for many Irish distilleries, the beginning of the next century brought more difficult times, for Royal Irish including the sudden death of Robert Lambart Dunville, then chair of the company. With the only other Dunville, brother William, living in Australia, the company became directionless and, by 1936, was liquidated.
Enter the Echlinville Distillery, a farm distillery founded in 2007 and located outside of Belfast, which brought back the Dunville’s brand beginning with aged expressions in the 2010s, adding the flagship 1808 in 2021.
A blend of pot still, grain, and malt whiskies, the grain element is sourced spirit, rather than distilled by Echlinville. According to the company: “Dunville’s has always been sourced whiskey. We use Echlinville single malt and single pot still in our core blends like 1808, but as we don’t have the capabilities to produce grain whiskey we will always need to source for our blends.”
The email I received further states that any change to the mix of whiskeys in the 1808 would “drastically change (its) flavour profile.” Which is fair enough, as it no doubt would.
And I wouldn’t want to mess with the character of this pale to medium gold whiskey, either. The aroma is an archetypal example of the way Irish blended whiskey can combine complexity with approachability, offering an inviting sweetness with honey, vanilla, and white chocolate that gradually reveals supporting spicy notes of anise and white pepper.
On the palate, it continues in the same vein, beginning sweet with caramel and honey notes before unravelling a complex tapestry of lemony citrus, digestive biscuit, vanilla, and a bit of pepper. Finally, just before the finish, notes of lemon curd and pepper, then a lingering oak, mild spice, and a bit of cantaloupe rind at the very end.
At the outset, this whiskey behaves like something you might want to drink over ice or knock back without much thought. But given a bit of time, it reveals itself as a spirit of sophistication, more than worthy of more careful consideration. Well worth the price, although I believe that it would draw a lot more interest, and stimulate sales considerable, were it to dip below that psychological $50 barrier.
90 ($53)
