A NEW Irish whiskey distillery seems to open every other week – but the forthcoming release from one established more than a decade ago is truly eagerly awaited.
Echlinville Distillery on the Ards peninsula, already well-known for reviving the Dunville’s brand to great acclaim, has confirmed that it will finally release the first whiskey under its own name this weekend.
Their first whiskey casks were actually filled more than a decade ago – on August 5, 2013, to be precise – but Echlinville has bided its time to mature a product worthy of the lofty reputation it has built up in the meantime.
Now Echlinville has announced that their inaugural single estate whiskey will be available to purchase from their distillery shop, online and in-store, and from selected retailers from 11am this Saturday, June 1.
Further details about the actual make-up and price of the whiskey will be revealed at a launch event at the distillery this Friday evening, under the guidance of Echlinville’s Director of Whiskey Jarlath Watson.
The Echlinville Distillery story dates back 17 years, to 2007, when local couple Shane and Lynn Braniff bought the Echlinville Manor House, near Kircubbin, with plans to build Ireland’s first field-to-glass distillery.
In 2012 Shane Braniff revived the famed former Belfast brand of Dunville’s, which has gone on to win multiple awards for its various sherry-finished single malt whiskeys.
A major step towards producing its very own whiskey, made from barley grown, harvested, and malted on the Braniff family farm, came in 2013, when Echlinville was granted its distilling licence, becoming the first new distillery in Northern Ireland for more than 125 years.
That whiskey came of age in 2016 but rather than rushing it to market Echlinville waited. And waited. And waited.
Echlinville instead made its name by producing its own super premium field-to-glass gin, Echlinville Irish Pot Still Gin, then later Weavers Dry Gin, as well as various whiskey brands.
The Dunville’s Single Cask Series of aged malts, some of them more than 20 years old, began in 2019 and showcased the talent and knowledge at Echlinville. In 2021 they revived the Old Comber name, bringing that celebrated pot still whiskey brand back to its home county of Down, with the Matt D’Arcy label also brought back that year into the Echlinville stable.
Now the wait is almost over for Irish whiskey lovers, with the release of Echlinville’s 10-year-old whiskeys sure to spark a scramble.