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This season we are taking the show on the road. First stop was the Dingle Distillery in County Kerry, Ireland where we spent three days at a proper Irish Gathering. We explore the town, the people, the whiskey and learn a lot about real Irish Pubs and old Pagan traditions. Interviews include Dingle's Master Distiller, Graham Coull, his wife Fay, Steven O'Carroll and Hunter Leese from Hotaling & Co.
For those of you who would like to know who won the Dingle whisky blending contest, it was Thomas Curran. Thomas named his blend ‘An Lasair Choille’ which directly translates to ‘flame of the woods’. A very appropriate name for a whiskey created at this event indeed. His whiskey contained a well-balanced blend of Single Malt and Pot Still and Graham also liked that the bourbon cask component was not overshadowed by the sherry cask components.
A little about Thomas – He is originally from Banna in County Kerry and has been in Cork for nearly 6 years, 4 of which he has been bartending. This is how Thomas caught the whiskey bug. His interest and specialty in Irish Whiskey and pursuit of a career in distillation led him to his work in the Shelbourne Bar. For the last year and a half, he has been specializing in merchandising and whiskey sales. Thomas and his colleagues from the Shelbourne were invited to the Dingle Bash, due to their long and valued relationship with the Dingle Distillery.
The blend he made for the contest was called An Lasair Choille, the Irish word for a goldfinch, which directly translates to "the flame of the woods". Thomas has always wanted that to be the name of the first whiskey he releases. The blend he created was 2 parts bourbon aged malt, 1 part bourbon pot still, 1 part Oloroso pot still, 1 part PX pot still, and 1 part Port malt. He wanted to go for 50/50 pot still/malt and 50/50 bourbon/fortified maturation, so worked out nicely and tasted great.
Further Reading:
A Brief History of the Irish Snug: https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/93409/brief-history-irish-snug
Fenton's Restaurant: https://fentonsrestaurantdingle.com/
Dick Mack’s Irish Pub: https://www.dickmackspub.com/
Foxy John’s Hardware:
https://scoundrelsfieldguide.com/foxy-johns-dingle-ireland-pub/
https://www.facebook.com/people/Foxy-Johns/100049913960761/
Ireland filming locations for Start Wars: https://www.authenticvacations.com/star-wars-filming-locations-ireland
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Former Business Development Director at Dingle Distillery
Having worked for larger established distilleries for over a decade, I joined Dingle Distillery in 2019 to build out their international business. I now look after all sales and marketing for the distillery.
Master Distiller
Following a lengthy process that saw applicants from across Europe and as far as Australia apply for the highly sought after position of Master Distiller at the Dingle Distillery, Graham Coull commended his role at the Dingle Distillery in October 2019.
Having started his foray into the drinks industry training as a brewer at Webster’s Brewery in Halifax, in 1994, Graham began working in the whisky industry as bottling manager at William Grant & Sons before realizing his passion for distillation, becoming Distillation Manager for Glenfiddich, Balvenie and Kininvie Distilleries. He left his role as Distillery Manager and Master Distiller at Glen Moray where he held a 14-year tenure, during which time he managed the expansion of the distillery and developed its range of whiskies. Arriving at the Dingle Distillery in October marked his 25th anniversary working within the whisky industry.
The Dingle Distillery’s Third Single Pot Still Release in November 2019 was the first new release overseen by Graham Coull as Master Distiller.
“Becoming the Distillery Manager and Master Distiller at The Dingle Distillery is an ideal opportunity for me to continue my passion for creating whiskies. I’m extremely impressed with the quality of the maturing spirit at Dingle and welcome the challenge of distilling in Dingle’s unique maturation conditions to craft the next small batch releases of Irish whiskey. I’m looking forward to really exploring the similarities and differences between Scotch and Irish whiskey, comparing and contrasting the different styles and bringing my experience to develop the new expressions and releases. There are definitely exciting times ahead!” Graham Coull, Master Distiller at The Dingle Distillery.
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