The Top Irish Whiskeys According To The Irish Whiskey Awards
Dunville's 21 YO Palo Cortado Single Malt was crowned The Whiskey of the Year at the 7th annual Irish Whiskey Awards (IWA). The awards are the most extensive judging of Irish whiskeys in the world. Forty-three whiskies received gold medals, and fifteen were picked as category winners in their respective classes.
The Dunville brand has a long history in the annals of Irish whiskey. It was the best-selling Irish whiskey in America in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The distillery closed in 1936, and the brand lay dormant for 80 years. In 2012, the Echlinville Distillery revived the brand. Since then, the brand has won awards in numerous spirit competitions.
The Dunville's 21 YO Palo Cortado Single Malt has been a perennial winner in international spirit competitions. It was picked as the Best Irish Single Malt at the 2023 World Whisky Awards and was the IWA's Whiskey of the Year in 2022.
The nose features light fruit notes of cooked stone fruits with hints of overripe plums. The palate is full-bodied and oily with a noticeable mouth weight. It exhibits flavors of dark chocolate, figs, dates, orange marmalade, ginger spice, and toasted almonds, along with notes of bread pudding and Italian Panettone cake.
The finish is long and sweet, with subtle hints of seasoned oak, flavored pipe tobacco, and assorted wood spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, and clove.
Dunville's PX 10 YO Single Malt won the Irish Single Malt 11 Years and Younger/Over 60 Euros category. The other Gold medalists were Keeper's Heart 10 YOTwo Stacks x Bankers Bar 7 YO Single Malt PX Sherry Finish.
The top whiskey is the Irish Single Malt 11 Years and Younger/Under 60 Euros was Egan's Fortitude. Egan also won a Gold Medal for its Egan's Endeavour. The other Gold medalist in the category was The Busker Small Batch Single Malt.
Dunville's 12 YO Palo Cortado Stories and Sips won the Irish Single Malt 12-15 Years. Echlinville also took a Gold Medal for its Dunville's12 YO Palace Bar Batch 2. The other Gold medalist was The Irishman 12 YO.
McConnell's Sherry Cask was the category winner in the Irish Blended Whiskey/Age Statement category. The runner-ups, both Gold medalists, were Hinch, 15 YO Oloroso Sherry Cask, Finish Batch 1, and Jameson, 18 YO.
Dunville's 11 YO Waterford Whiskey Society Exclusive was the top whiskey in the Irish Single Cask 11 Years and Younger category. Regrettably, this whiskey is not available outside of Ireland. The other Gold medalists were The Busker Single Cask 13929 Single MaltThe Busker Single Cask 16626 Single Pot Still.
Dunville's 23 YO Single Cask 1205 Palo Cortado also won the Irish Single Cask 12 Years and Older category. The other Gold medals went to JJ Corry The Bonder's SelectCeltic Cask Caoga a Trí (53) 2001 Anime Negra. See Celtic Cask Crafts Some of Ireland's Best Small Batch Irish Whiskeys for an in-depth look at the Celtic Cask range.
Hinch 5 YO Madeira Cask won the Irish Blended Whiskey Limited Release category.
The other Gold Medals went to Micil Inverin Virgin Oak Single CaskThe Whistler Doppelbock Rye Cask Finish Limited Edition.
Dunville's Three Crowns Sherry was the top pick in the Irish Blended Whiskey No Age Statement/Under 60 Euros. The Busker Triple CaskJameson Original also took Gold Medals.
The top prize for Blended Irish Whiskey No Age Statement/Over 60 Euros went to Shortcross Distiller's Duo. The other Gold medals went to Jameson Black BarrelTeeling Alentejo Wine Cask.
The Bridge Whiskey—Portlick was the top Irish grain whiskey. Roe & Co Flor 14 YO Single GrainGlendalough Double Barrel won Gold Medals.
The winner of the Best New Irish Whiskey was Fercullen Single Malt. The other Gold medalist and runner-up was Boann Single Pot Still Madeira Cask.
Redbreast PX Iberian Series was the top pick for Irish Single Pot Still, 11 Years and Younger. The other Gold medals went to Method and Madness French ChestnutRedbreast Lustau Edition. Redbreast has been a perennial medalist in the Irish Single Pot Still category.
Midleton Very Rare Barry Crockett Legacy won in the Irish Single Pot Still 12 Years and Older category. The other two Gold medals went to Redbreast 21 YOGold Spot 13 YO.
Irish Peated Whiskeys have been a rapidly growing category of Irish whiskey.
Micil Inverin, The Skeff Bar, Oloroso Cask, was the top pick. Shortcross 5 YO Peated and The Chancer Irish Whiskey Bonding Company were the other two Gold medalists.
Irish peated whiskeys generally lack the pronounced medicinal and phenolic notes found in peated Scotch whiskies from Islay and the Western islands. They are more earthy with slight floral notes, similar to the peated whiskeys from the Orkneys and Eastern Highlands.
Dunville's 22 YO 1643 PX was the winner in the Cask Strength bottling. Redbreast 27 YO Blue Spot were the other Gold medalists.
The 2024 Irish Whiskey Awards showcased some remarkable Irish whiskeys and underscored the outstanding track record of Echlinville Distillery's Dunville's brand. Dunville's has been a perennial medalist in the IWA but in 2024 they dominated the single malt categories.
Northern Ireland's whiskey production has always emphasized single malt. Historically these were typically triple distilled although today both double and triple distilled expressions are available. The rest of Ireland was focused on triple-distilled Single Pot Still whiskeys.
This historic production pattern was reflected in the IWA's 2024 results, with Northern Ireland distilleries dominating many of the single malt categories. If you are not familiar with Dunville's it's a brand worth exploring, if only for its innovative cask finishes.
The Irish whiskey industry continues to go from strength to strength. There are now 43 operating distilleries with more in the planning stage. For last three years, exports of Irish whiskey have exceeded one billion Euros. It's hard to believe that only forty years ago there were only three functioning distilleries, and less than 200,000 9-Liter cases were produced. By comparison, production in 2023 reached 12.9 million cases, a roughly 85-fold increase over the last four decades.
If you are a fan of Irish whiskey, there are plenty of new expressions to explore. If you haven't yet sampled the best of Irish whiskey, you have a whole new world of whiskey to explore.
