Dunsmore Irish Whiskey is an interesting whiskey because there is almost no information about it online so to get any info we need to turn to the bottle.
From the label: Dunsmore Irish Whiskey
“Irish Whiskey. A blend of 100% Irish Whiskey mellowed in a combination of Bourbon and Wine oak barrels. Ireland’s finest blended whiskey matured for smoothness.”
It’s bottled by the Brookstone Distilling Company, who also bottle some bourbons like War Eagle. The company doesn’t have a website and so there’s no official information about the Dunsmore Irish Whiskey I could find. Because there’s no additional info it means there are a lot of unanswered questions.
Was the grain whiskey aged in ex-bourbon and the single malt aged in ex-wine? Did they both start in ex-bourbon and then get blended together in the ex-wine barrels to marry and finish? To me that makes the most sense and would be the easiest, but they could have just as easily aged both components in one barrel and then finished in the other and blended before bottling. Lots of questions about how it was made, but at least we can answer how it smells and tastes in the Dunsmore Irish Whiskey review below.
Dunsmore Irish Whiskey Info
Region: Cooley Peninsula , Ireland
Distiller: Unknown (but likely Cooley)
Bottler: Brookstone Distilling Company
Mashbill: Blend of Irish Single Malt (100% Malted Barley) + Grain Whiskey
Cask: ex-Bourbon & ex-Wine
Age: NAS
ABV: 40%
Price: $20
Dunsmore Irish Whiskey Review
EYE
Honey
NOSE
Malt, spice, dried fruit, honey, powdered sugar and a light biscuity note that’s accompanied by dried apples, banana chips and a bit of alcohol. A pleasant aroma that I happily sniffed over and over while sitting in my recliner to write this up.
PALATE
Malt, spice, dried fruit (apricot heavy), vanilla and light notes of dark sweets, buttery pastry, cereal grains and a bit of alcohol. Again, a nice pleasant experience. Not wildly exciting… but pleasant.
FINISH
Medium fade of malt, vanilla, spice, dried fruit and a caramel-like grain whiskey sweetness.
BALANCE, BODY & FEEL
Nicely balanced, medium body and a gentle buttery feel.
OVERALL
Yes Dunsmore Irish Whiskey is another 80 proof chill-filtered Irish blend on the market, but they did something interesting with the addition of the wine casks and it shows. While I didn’t get anything I’ld really call “wine notes” the casks did add nice butteriness to it. A well placed weight on top of a crisp well balanced whiskey that made me sit up and say “oh, that’s a bit different”.
There’s no doubt this whiskey would be even better at a bit higher proof, a bit older, contained more malt and was non-chill filtered, but for being what it is, it’s quite nice. There’s the usual crisp fruit and honey notes you’d expect, but like with much of life the divil is in the details and it’s those lighter, more subtle, notes mixed with the butteriness and dark sweets notes set it apart and make it a fun whiskey to drink.
SCORE: 84/100 (B)