Dunville Premium Irish Whiskey wins US export deal

Dunville, the Premium Irish Malt Whiskey, has won its first business in the US in a deal with Total Wine of Bethesda, Maryland.

Dunville's Very Rare range of Irish whiskey, from the Echlinville distillery at Kircubbin in Northern Ireland, includes a 10-year-old single malt which has been finished in Pedro Ximénez casks.

The whiskey was named Best Irish Single Malt Under 12 Years at the prestigious 2015 World Whiskies Awards and the Best Irish Single Malt in last year's Irish Whiskey Awards.

Originally one of the most successful Irish whiskies before Prohibition in the US, Dunville virtually disappeared when the Royal Irish Distillery in Belfast, which distilled it, ceased production in 1936.

The historic brand was revived by Northern Irish entrepreneur Shane Braniff, founder of the Echlinville Distillery, now only the second distillery producing whiskey in Northern Ireland and one of only five on the island of Ireland.

Commenting on the deal with Total Wines, Mr Braniff says: "This is a hugely important contract for us in the world's biggest market for Irish whiskey. It re-establishes the Dunville brand in a market where it held a prominent position until the introduction of Prohibition in 1920.

"The loss of the US business eventually led to the liquidation of the original distillery in Belfast, once among the biggest in Ireland.

"We are delighted to have won business with Total Wines, the largest US independent retailer of wines and spirits. It gives us a springboard for growth in this extremely important marketplace.

"We have had a great many inquiries about the whiskey following its success in the World Whiskies Awards in 2015. We've also won business in key European markets for Dunville Malt and have also just launched Three Crowns, another historic whiskey under the brand. Dunville Three Crowns is a Premium Vintage blend of four-year single grain, 10-year single malt and Oloroso finished 15-year single malt whiskies."

Dunville Premium Malt is also on sale at Fortnum and Mason in London.

Echlinville Distillery is an independent business and is the only distillery in Ireland using barley from fields surrounding the premises. It also revived the ago-old tradition of distillery floor malting. Echlinville became Northern Ireland's first licenced distillery in over 125 years.