Dingle in high spirits at Irish Whiskey Awards

THE makers and purveyors of fine whiskey in West Kerry are in high spirits this week after two Dingle pubs and the town’s distillery brought home a gabháil of trophies from the Irish Whiskey Awards.

Dick Mack’s was crowned with the prestigious title of the overall Irish Whiskey Bar of the Year as well as the Best Irish Whiskey Bar in Munster – a brace of titles the “legendary and iconic” pub also won three times previously from 2014 – 2016. Sharing the local honours was John Benny’s pub, which was awarded a gold medal in the Munster pubs section of the Irish Whiskey Awards, which were presented on the grounds of Slane Distillery in County Meath last Wednesday night.

On the same night, Dingle Distillery added to its growing collection of trophies, winning the awards for Best New Irish Whiskey for its Dingle Single Malt Batch 3, Best Irish Gin for Dingle Gin, and a gold medal for Dingle Vodka. The distillery’s parent company, Porter House, also won the award for Best Irish Whiskey Barrel-Aged Irish Craft Beer for its Dingle Dark Star Ale.

The winning whiskies were selected on the basis of ‘blind’ tasting by recognised experts and members of the drinks trade who sipped their way through the approximately 130 different entries, which collectively represented over 99 per cent of the Irish whiskeys currently available in Ireland. After careful deliberation they judged Redbreast 12-Year-Old Cask Strength to be the Best Irish Whiskey of the Year.

On the strength of Dingle’s outstanding achievements – along with the evolving success of the very active local branch of the Irish Whiskey Society – the town is likely to be the host venue for next year’s Irish Whiskey Awards. This would be expected to bring about 300 aficionados of the pure drop to West Kerry, which would surely raise spirits in the town in the darkening days of late October.

Photos by Declan Malone Finn MacDonnell and barman Derek O’Sullivan behind the counter in Dick Mack’s with the award the pub won for being the ‘Best Whiskey Pub in Ireland’ and (right) John Benny Moriarty behind the bar in his pub, which was a gold medal winner in the Munster section of the Irish Whiskey Awards.