Review of the Masterclass with @Beardydave81 from Dingle Distillery – IWF’24

My first masterclass at the International Whisky Festival The Hague was the Dingle Distillery whiskey masterclass from the namesake town in southwest Ireland.

The masterclass was conducted by the Global Brand Ambassador, Dave Cummins aka @beardydave81 .

The session began with an introduction to the origins of the whiskey, accompanied by a Single Malt New Make. It was wonderful to find the character of the new make reflected in the whiskeys featured in the masterclass.

Following the new make, we delved into the core version of the Single Malt. After the high alcohol content of the new make, this felt a bit flat but still a very solid whiskey. During the masterclass, it was also mentioned that they are working on two new core range expressions, a Pot Still and an age-stated expression.

After the core edition, several editions from the Celtic Wheel of the Year series were presented. The 8 editions for the Wheel of the Year have all been released by now (more on this later). All editions are Single Malt or Pot Still whiskeys with various finishes used.

The first whiskey in the tasting for the Wheel of the Year was the Bealtaine edition, also known as May Day, which is still widely celebrated in Dingle. This is definitely something I want to witness someday. It’s a Pot Still whiskey finished in Shiraz wine casks. Truly a delightful whiskey with beautiful fruit notes in the finish.

The second Wheel of the Year expression was the yet-to-be-released Lá an Dreoilín edition for the namesake holiday, also known as Wren Day. This is the 9th and final release in the series. Even though the wheel of the year consists of 8 holidays, Wren Day was added to the series because this Celtic festival is grandly celebrated in Dingle and served as the inspiration for the distillery’s logo. This edition was finished in Muscatel casks.

We returned to Single Malts with the Cónocht an Fomhair edition of the Wheel of the Year for the autumn equinox, the moment when day and night each last exactly 12 hours. This edition was finished in rum casks.

To conclude the masterclass, a Single Cask, which was exclusively bottled for the Dutch market by Tradeinspirits and Whisky Center, the organizers of this masterclass, was featured. This was an 8-year-old Single Malt matured in Pedro Ximénez sherry casks. It was truly outstanding.