Second historic irish Whiskey revived by Northern Irish distillery

Dunville Three Crowns, a Vintage Blended Irish Whiskey, has been launched by Echlinville Distillery in Northern Ireland.

Based at Kircubbin in county Down, Echlinville is Northern Ireland's second licensed Irish whiskey distillery and the only one to distil using barley grain harvested from its own farm estate. Three Crowns is the second Dunville branded whiskey launched by the distillery and follows the award winning Dunville PX 12-year old Single Malt.

Echlinville, established in 2013 by businessman Shane Braniff, acquired the historic Dunville Irish Whiskey brand, once produced by the Royal Irish Distilleries in Belfast and one of the most successful whiskies in the US to Prohibition. The Royal Irish Distillery, which had been established in 1808, closed in 1936.

The launch of Three Crowns, a blend of three premium whiskies, means that Echlinville has now revived the two main Dunville whiskies.

Three Crowns (ABV 43.5%), which retails at around £36.85 in 70cl bottles, is now on sales in key markets such as the UK and Ireland.

The company describes Three Crowns as having a "sweet and smooth nose with caramel and butterscotch overtones. It stays smooth on the palate with initial sweetness balancing with grain and malt characters supported by an oak influence. Friendly to the palate and very drinkable, the soft and lingering finish has subtle notes of walnut and dried fruits with touches of vanilla pods".

Echlinville Distillery was the first in Northern Ireland to be licensed in over a century. It was an initiative by Mr Braniff who had previously developed Feckin Irish Whiskey and Feckin Spiced Irish Whiskey, the latter recently voted the best flavoured whiskey in Ireland by World Whiskies publication. Feckin was only the second Irish whiskey brand launched in Northern Ireland in recent years - before the revival of Dunville.

Mr Braniff has said his decision to establish the new distillery was influenced by the growth in demand for Irish whiskey in the US over the past few years. Irish whiskey, he added, is now the fastest growing brown spirit worldwide and demand is currently out stripping supply in the US and many other markets.

The small batch distillery is also developing other spirits especially gin. It distils the successful Jawbox Classic Belfast Gin and is producing its own Echlinville Gin as well as Ban Poitin. The company has plans to develop its own vodka and rum.