Sitting on the farthest spit of peninsula in Europe, Dingle Distillery is the first craft distillery in Ireland post-consolidation. From its place on the Wild Atlantic Way, Dingle set forth the path for the dozens of Irish distilleries that followed in the last decade-plus.

Managing Director and son of the founder Elliot Hughes joins me to talk through Dingle's history and four expressions: Dingle Single Malt, Samhain, Bealtaine, and La Le Bride. Embracing the culture of their (and County Kerry's) Gaeltacht region, Dingle leans heavily into Celtic lore (try pronouncing the distillery's Gaelic name...I'll wait).

We also talk about the significance of being the first craft distillery to open, joining the long-standing Midleton, Bushmills, and Cooley distilleries that pumped out all the Irish whiskey we drank for decades. It's more than just being the first, it's about setting an example, and they did.

Thanks everyone for listening, and thank you to Elliot for entering the Whiskey Ring!

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Dingle Distillery

• Dingle Distillery Website
• Dingle Distillery Instagram
• Dingle Distillery Facebook

Reviews

• Dingle Distillery Single Malt Irish Whiskey Review
• Dingle Distillery Samhain Single Malt Irish Whiskey Review

Thanks to our Lead Sponsor, Black Button Distillery

• Black Button Distilling Website
• Black Button Distilling on Facebook
• Black Button Distilling on Instagram

On my first trip to Kentucky in 2022, I needed one more distillery to visit before heading down to Nashville for the Tennessee portion of my trip. I could've gone to a heritage distillery - still haven't been to Jim Beam or Buffalo Trace - but instead, I took a chance on a small distillery in Christian County near the state line: MB Roland.

I got to go on the first-ever Distiller's tour, led by Paul, where we got to fill our own bottles right out of the casks. From there, we went into a makeshift bar under the beautiful visitor's center and sampled many, many more products, from a rye and a single malt to Pink Lemonade Moonshine, a favorite of bachelorette parties (don't knock it - besides being a great revenue source, it does actually taste great!).

What became clear was that this small distillery, founded by a husband and wife team in 2009 in the earliest days of craft distilling in the backyard of the biggest bourbon producers in the world, was trying to do something different. Spirits using local white corn, experimental mashbills, playing around with cask sizes (though most are 53 gallons), and most of all doing what they wanted.

It's a great place to visit with many different whiskies and spirits to try. Take the drive off the beaten path, it's worth it.

Thanks everyone for listening, and thank you to Paul for entering the Whiskey Ring!

_________________________________________________________

If you haven’t joined the Patreon community yet, please consider doing so at patreon.com/whiskeyinmyweddingring

There are 2-3 more spots available at the $25/month bottle share club level.

If you haven’t yet, please follow Whiskey in my Wedding Ring and the Whiskey Ring Podcast on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter, and subscribe to the newsletter on the website.

MB Roland Distillery

• MB Roland Distillery Website
• MB Roland Distillery Instagram
• MB Roland Distillery Facebook
• MB Roland Distillery Twitter

Thanks to our Lead Sponsor, Black Button Distillery

• Black Button Distilling Website
• Black Button Distilling on Facebook
• Black Button Distilling on Instagram

Ever seen a square pot still? No? Me neither. Apparently, for moonshiners in the Land Between the Rivers (now Land Between the Lakes) region, square stills were all the rage - they could be loaded into the back of a pickup truck, easily disassembled, and still put out high quality moonshine. And nobody did it better than Arlen Jones, better known as "Casey" because he only sold moonshine by the case.

Casey ended up in prison twice, the final time leading to him getting out of the still-making business for good. Fast forward a few decades, and in a truly ironic twist, the government came calling for him to make one more still (a working one, no less!) for the Land Between the Lakes visitors center - and he did. That still stands today in the Casey Jones Distillery.

When Casey's grandson, AJ, discovered his family's history (it was a poorly held secret), he decided to get into the game himself, too. A decade or so later, they have four mashbills of whiskey, are growing rapidly, and are the official bourbon of not one but TWO eclipses (they were in the line of totality for the 2017 solar eclipse and just outside of it for the April 2024 one).

Finally, they're also members of the State Line Trail with MB Roland in Kentucky and Old Glory Distilling in Tennessee - look for my episode with Paul at MB Roland next week!

Thanks everyone for listening, and thank you to Cody for entering the Whiskey Ring!

_________________________________________________________

If you haven’t joined the Patreon community yet, please consider doing so at patreon.com/whiskeyinmyweddingring

There are 2-3 more spots available at the $25/month bottle share club level.

If you haven’t yet, please follow Whiskey in my Wedding Ring and the Whiskey Ring Podcast on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter, and subscribe to the newsletter on the website.

Casey Jones Distillery

• Casey Jones Distillery Website
• Casey Jones Distillery Instagram
• Casey Jones Distillery Facebook
• Casey Jones Distillery Twitter
• Casey Jones Distillery YouTube

Thanks to our Lead Sponsor, Black Button Distillery

• Black Button Distilling Website
• Black Button Distilling on Facebook
• Black Button Distilling on Instagram