Dunville's

[Joel1802]

Can anyone confirm if Three Crowns and VR are PPS or blends? I have seen them described as both. Cheers.

[IrishWhiskeyChaser]

I have a feeling both are blends. Dunvilles (Thye Royal Irish Distillery) distilled pps, malt and grain whiskey and the majority of their product was reported as being blended as they had a huge blending operation. However there is no definitive answer as all bottles that I have seen don't seem to suggest either way what is in the bottles. However you are probably safe in the knowledge it is all the out put from a single distillery.

[Joel1802]

I have read that Dunville's produced in the 1950s for a short time. Can anyone shed some light on this? Also while I'm at it does anyone have tasting notes for any Dunville's whioskies?

[wjohnd]

Three crowns was a PPS interestingly enough. Distillery closed in 1941 although an enitire store was found about 1951 at an old storage
depot I think it was the Bushmills one.

regards

William

[Joel1802]

Very interesting, just bought a bottle of VR, I have to get the Three Crowns now. Can you shed any more light on the history of the distillery or it's brands?

Joel

[wjohnd]

There's a website about the family and the history of the Distillery
its at

Code: Select all

http://www.dumville.org/whiskey.html

there is a lot
there about the distillery and the heritage.

Regards

William

[Joel1802]

Thanks for that, I enjoy the memorabillia too, I've gotten one of the pub trays.

[IrishWhiskeyChaser]

Three crowns was a PPS interestingly enough. Distillery closed in 1941 although an enitire store was found about 1951 at an old storage
depot I think it was the Bushmills one.

regards

William

Hi wjohnd, what information do you base that on?

I've never seen any reference as to the contents of any of the Dunvilles bottlings so would love to know for sure.

I had presumed they were all blends due to the fact that they produced PPS, Malt and lastly Grain in large quantities for the blending side of the company which was registered as Dunville & Co as opposed to the distillery which was registered as William Dunville & Co. But mainly my thoughts of blends come from the fact it was started by merchants who started business as blenders in the first place. So more of a Johnnie Walker (who also started as a merchant and blender) mentality rather than a single distillate mentality I would have thought.

If we can nail down evidence that would be great.

[Joel1802]

Indeed, however, I will make note of the word "liqueur" on the bottle. In my experience (not that I have made a careful study -- stand by) a "liqueur" whisky tends to be, if not exclusively, then commonly a pot still or malt only whisky.

[wjohnd]

Blending was a tricky business due to the fact that each run produced
slightly different taste. If you consider the season and the farm that the
mash was produced from even that changed the end result slightly, i
imagine experience tasters could tell. So the origional purpose of
blending was to produce a more consistent product.
So this was developed later in the life of the distillery and
was almost perfected by the end of its time. It was an attempt
at consistency

[Joel1802]

Well, I've decided the proof must be in the pudding (or bottle) so I have odered a bottle of Three Crowns and shall perform a detailed analysis around Christmas.

[IrishWhiskeyChaser]

Well, I've decided the proof must be in the pudding (or bottle) so I have odered a bottle of Three Crowns and shall perform a detailed analysis around Christmas.

Look forward greatly to your musings on the Dunvilles

[TallyB]

Something I came across a while ago but took me some time to find again as the site is now closed.
Clears up some of the history connection with the Bushmills distillery.

http://www.classicwhiskey.com/flash/dunvilles_intro.htm

[Pudge72]

Something I came across a while ago but took me some time to find again as the site is now closed.
Clears up some of the history connection with the Bushmills distillery.

http://www.classicwhiskey.com/flash/dunvilles_intro.htm

Very interesting link...thanks for sharing!

[Joel1802]

The V.R. is endorsed by the lancet: http://ceallaighgirl.smugmug.com/Other/Whisky-Porn/26668700_xB94rs#!i=2292189519&k=mBCS4wJ

[Joel1802]

I have read that Dunville's produced in the 1950s for a short time. Can anyone shed some light on this? Also while I'm at it does anyone have tasting notes for any Dunville's whioskies?

Cadenhead's 150th anniversary collection included a bottling of Royal Irish Distillery whisky distilled in '51 so that confirms it.

[Joel1802]

I haven't bothered with notes yet but first impression of the Three Crowns is that it is a blend. Pot still and sherry are very obvious influences. A very nice drink.

[Joel1802]

Since it is clear the Royal Irish Distillery was distilling in the early 50s it raises a number of questions. The biggest is what happened to the whisky!?! Aside from the Cadenhead's 150th bottling (a single cask I think) I know of no other bottling of the whisky. It wasn't sold under the Dunville's name. Did it go into Belfast brands like Club?

[Good Whiskey Hunting]

I thought brands like Club and Yates were bottled in the 70's. I would think they were not aged that long, but I'm not sure.

I have just dug out an old Club poster and it appears that the bottle has a cork and was called Liqueur whisky which indicates that it's probably 60's. I'm only speculating here.

[Joel1802]

Here`s the one I have. http://ceallaighgirl.smugmug.com/Other/Whisky-Porn/26668700_xB94rs#!i=2292193976&k=4vpQd6j The merchant dates from the 19C, but that doesn`t mean the brand does, but I think the brand it quite old. It does pre-date a statement of volume and the screw cap looks like an older style. That said I have no idea where the whisky inside comes from and I don`t know when it became mandatory to state volume on packaging in the UK.

It all seems very strange. Even if the distillery only ran for a few weeks there`d be quite a bit of whisky as it was a big distillery with large stills.

McGuire`s Irish Whisky doesn`t say anything about it in the 50s.

I wonder who had the license to distill at that time as I think Dunville`s was wound up completely with all stock disposed by the end of the 40s.

[IrishWhiskeyChaser]

It does pre-date a statement of volume and the screw cap looks like an older style. That said I have no idea where the whisky inside comes from and I don`t know when it became mandatory to state volume on packaging in the UK.

1st of January 1980 I believe


I would go with Will here that it's maybe a 60's/70's bottling, the screw cap is very similar to a few I have had like the this one here.

But yes the brand has been around much longer.

The following is a unattributed SPS and was bottled in the early 70's. Note the screw cap is not identical but it is of a wide non standard version similar to that of the Club (if my eyes are not deceiving me).

These clubs seem to pop up quite regular, which makes me think they have been around up till recently (i.e. possibly 60's or even 70's).

[Joel1802]

I think 60s or 70s is about right for this one. I doubt that would have anything from the Royal Irish in it. That's the problem with these brands, the contents can keep changing, just because one month it is whisky from X does not mean it can't change to Y for the next month. I wonder if the what ever was produced in the early 50s was disposed of through them? Seems most likely candidate.