The Dubliner Bourbon Cask is a light, sweet Irish whiskey from the Liberties, and it tastes like a vanilla biscuit that has been introduced to a honey jar. This Dubliner Bourbon Cask review is about a 40% whiskey that costs about £26, tastes of vanilla, honey and a little apple with a faint cereal note, and is a soft, sweet and undemanding dram.
I like it a little. It is easy and cheap, and it does not do anything to upset a newcomer. It is also outclassed by several better-known bottles at the same price.
Dublin Liberties is a distillery in the Liberties district of Dublin, one of the old whiskey quarters of the city, and the Dublin Liberties distillery makes a range of Irish whiskeys with a strong local flavour.
The Dubliner Bourbon Cask is bottled at 40%, and the retail listings I found describe it as bourbon cask aged. There is no age statement on it. UK prices I found ranged from about £23 to £29, with one shop at £26.25 on sale, so I use about £26. Age statements versus NAS explains the missing number, and the Liberties Copper Alley 10 is the distillery’s older, better bottle.
A vanilla biscuit dipped in a spoon of honey, with a slice of green apple on the side.
The nose is sweet and gentle, with vanilla, honey and a little apple, then a faint cereal note, a hint of oak and a trace of floral sweetness. It smells soft, clean and light, with nothing sharp.
On the palate it is light and sweet, with vanilla, honey and malt, then a mild spice, a hint of apple and a soft oak. The 40% gives it a light body, and the texture is smooth and slightly thin. It is easy to drink, and it has little depth.
The finish is short, with vanilla, oak and a faint sweetness. It is warm, clean and mild.
A few drops of water are not needed, though they bring out the apple and soften the oak. It also gets a little sweeter as it sits, and the honey comes forward. At 40% there is little room for water, and a light hand is the right one.
Neat, in a small glass, or on a couple of cubes. It is a very easy sipper and a good everyday whiskey. It makes a pleasant Whisky Sour, where the vanilla and the honey work with the lemon, and a good highball with ginger ale.
It goes well with a mild cheese, shortbread and a quiet evening. It is a decent gift for somebody who likes soft, sweet whiskey and does not want to be challenged.
At about £26 it scores 68. Jameson Original scores 77 at about £24, which is nine points better for £2 less. Tullamore D.E.W. Original scores 76 at about £20, eight points better for £6 less. Bushmills Original scores 72 at about £21, and Kilbeggan Original scores 72 at about £21.
So the Dubliner is a pleasant whiskey at a price where every comparable bottle does better. The Jameson and the Tullamore beat it by eight or nine points for less, and even the Bushmills and the Kilbeggan beat it by four for £5 less. I would buy it only for the Dublin label.
The Liberties were the heart of Dublin’s whiskey trade in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, with dozens of distilleries in a few streets. The area lost them all in the twentieth century, and the new distillery is part of a revival.
That story is the best thing about the bottle. The whiskey itself is light, sweet and pleasant, and it does not stand out from the cheaper Irish blends on the shelf. The label adds a sense of place that the liquid does not quite deliver.
If you want to try something from the new Liberties distillery, the older bottles in the range are a better choice.
One practical point: at 40% the whiskey is very light, so ice and a mixer are the fair way to treat it. A tall glass with ginger ale and a twist of orange is a perfectly respectable way to drink it, and it does that job better than it does neat.
Four more bottles, from the better buys to the older sibling.
The famous triple-distilled blend that scores nine points higher for £2 less.
A smooth, grassy blend that scores eight points higher for £6 less.
A light, malty Northern Irish blend that scores four points higher for £5 less.
A soft, honeyed blend that scores four points higher for £5 less.
The Dubliner Bourbon Cask is light, sweet, honeyed and forgettable, an easy Irish whiskey with a good postcode. It is a fair bottle at a weak price against its rivals, and the Jameson Original is the better buy.
Caskable score: 68 out of 100.
Vanilla, honey, a little apple and a faint cereal note
Light and sweet, with vanilla, honey, malt and a mild spice
Short, with vanilla, oak and a faint sweetness
A light, sweet, easy Irish whiskey that is pleasant and a bit forgettable.
Thomas Grønvold is the founder of Caskable and a whisky enthusiast who believes the best way to learn about whisky is simply to drink it, compare it, and stay curious. From supermarket favourites to bottles from distilleries around the world, he writes about what he actually tastes and experiences, without pretending you need to be an expert to enjoy a good dram.
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