The Dingle Peninsula, as a whole, is probably the most beautiful place on earth I have ever been to. I seriously left a piece of me behind on the bluff overlooking Dunquin Harbour. The town of Dingle is magic personified in a small town. From the B&B’s that are literally on top of the pubs on main Street (Strand Street) to the pubs that double as a hardware store, to the distillery found just outside the town. If you do find yourself lucky enough to visit heaven on earth in Dingle, make sure you take a drive out along the Sales Head drive from town and stop at Dunquin Harbour. Just stand there and take it all in. 

I have been lucky enough to try all 5 batches of the Dingle Single Malt that have been available (Batch 6 just released in Ireland recently) and I have liked every one. They are fairly youthful yes, but vibrant and exciting. The varying cask usage between batches also kept me on my toes. I liked a couple more than the others but they were all up my alley in terms of palate.

Now to the bottle at hand. The first thing I notice is the packaging. A striking dark navy blue with gold foil trim including a more prominent logo that I call “The Dingle Man”.

Bottled at a very nice 46.3% abv and non-chill filtered, cut down to bottling proof with water from their own well 240 feet below the ground.

In the glass it has a nice golden honey hue with a slight touch of red on the edges. Very skinny but super slow legs on the glass as I twirl. Just begging for a nose and a taste.

Nose: On the initial nose there is a familiarity evident immediately.  That Dingle sweet malt note that I do really like. Sitting side by side riding shotgun is a fruit sweetness. Like a creamy strawberry, and a bit of tart fruit that I find in most Dingle releases. Like a sugar coated rhubarb stock that I used to eat as a kid. The PX casks add a heavier fruit note deeper down. A touch of spice comes through with some time in the glass. An underlying nutmeg, and citrus. Like a slice of sugar dusted orange peel or lemon slices in tea. This is more complex than I would have predicted.

Palate: On the initial sip, the immediate note I pick up is the salted/spiced toffee and vanilla. It’s clear the bourbon casks used are top tier. They show up in Spades right off the hop. There is some spice here for sure. Some white pepper, and again the nutmeg almost reaching to cinnamon. The fruit notes come through after. Starting off with orchard fruits. Caramelized apples and stewed pears with the honey and vanilla. This starts intermingling with a bit of the sherry fruit sweetness. Bringing along fall/autumn fruits and that herbaceous feeling. The most unique note I find is a slight chocolate leading to a fresh roasted coffee bean note. This caught me by surprise and I really like it.

Finish: The spice has come back again. Almost tingles down and then back up on to the tongue. More of the salted honey and pepper with a touch of cinnamon. This one has a bit of everything but never feels disjointed. It evolves instead of fighting itself. And it leaves me feeling satisfied.  I need to keep reminding myself that this is their core release which is readily available and will not disappear quickly like previous batches. Being only roughly 5 to 7 years old there is definitely a touch of youth that shines through but it’s not off putting in any way. I also do love that there is still an evident “Dingle” note found in this bottle, which ties it in with the batch releases.

Conclusion

As I finished this glass off, I kicked back and looked over at the photo that I took myself, that is now poster-sized and hanging in my kitchen of Dunquin Harbour. I pictured myself with this bottle sitting on the bluff up above the winding pathway, the wind blowing in off the ocean and just taking it all in as I was so lucky to do once before.

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