Next weekend the 15th Whisky & Rum aan Zee (..by the sea) is held in the port town of IJmuiden. For that festival this Dingle PX cask was bottled. Slijterij Zeewijck in the same town started the festival over 15 years ago (last year didn’t happen for obvious reasons) and although I’ve not been for a while, I do remember having an awesome lot of fun there!

Yesterday I was surprised by a call from the importer (WhiskyCenter) that they had a bottle for me, and whether they could drop it off. Apart from being quite surprised, I was also rather flattered that they thought of me, so many thanks for this, DJK!

Of course, the idea is to get the ball rolling for the sale of the 300 bottles that have been released, so a review is supposed to happen. Which, obviously, is the case with every sample or bottle that comes in this way.

This Dingle matured in Bourbon casks and Pedro Ximenez sherry casks. It’s only available from Slijterij en Wijnhuis Zeewijck, so be quick if you want one!

Sniff:
On the nose the very high ABV is already noticeable, but not unpleasant. Sweet notes of pastry and dried fruits start to come up quickly. Plums, dates, egg-washed puff pastry. After a little while there are peaches and yellow raisins too. A note of cinnamon is there as well.

Sip:
The arrival is a bit of a punch initially, but unlike some other high octane drinks, it’s not too bad. Quite sippable, so to say. A bit of dusty pepper and dry oak. The puff pastry notes are present on the palate as well. Very classic with notes of dried fruits, although it’s a bit less sweet here than it was on the nose. The dried fruit veers towards a slightly bitter note with plum- and date stones, and some almonds.

Swallow:
The finish holds the middle between the sweeter aroma and the slightly more bitter palate. Almonds and raisins, but also raisin twigs. Not overly long, but it comes with fruity notes and baking spices.

Well, this is a sherry cask. I can tell you that.

Compared to the ‘original’ Dingle I reviewed a little while ago, it’s very interesting that the same ‘baked goods’ note is here too, albeit a little bit more sweet than the bready notes of the earlier one. This, of course, is the fruity sherry cask that was used.

I was a bit afraid of this being completely overpowered by the sherry, and being cloying and overly sweet. Especially since I often find Irish whisky sweet to begin with. That, luckily, is not the case. There’s a certain lightness to it, which might find its origin in the triple distillation.

All in all, good stuff and very much worth the € 75 it is going for! Worthy of the festival’s 15th anniversary!

87/100

Again, available here, and again, thanks a million to Whisky Center!