The 12th annual Irish Whiskey Awards rolled into Teeling Distillery in Dublin’s Liberties last night, turning the distillery into a who’s who of Irish whiskey and craft spirits. A total of 20 awards were given out to the top expressions of Irish whiskey. Below are brief highlights and tasting notes on the top winner.
Hosted by the Celtic Whiskey Shop, the 20 award categories covered the range of Irish whiskeys from Blended Whiskey to Single Malts and included a range of maturations. Once again, a Dunville Palo Cortado Single Malt expression took top honors as the Irish whiskey of the year.
The award marked the second year in a row that a Echlinville Distillery’s Dunville’s Palo Cortado expression took the honor. Over the last decade, Northern Ireland’s Echlinville Distillery has emerged as a powerhouse craft whiskey producer, earning plaudits for its innovation and the outstanding quality of its single malt whiskeys.
This year’s ceremony brought the awards back to familiar ground. Teeling Distillery last hosted the event in 2015. The 2025 edition was the second time Teeling had hosted the event and also marked a significant milestone: the 10th anniversary of the Teeling Distillery.
Event organizer Ally Alpine kicked off the evening by thanking Jack and Stephen Teeling for opening their doors again and set the tone with a nod to the industry’s resilience:
He highlighted that over the last 12 months, the Irish whiskey industry has faced persistent headwinds, including a roughly 10% decline in exports to the US, its largest market. He also underscored the industry’s underlying strength, noting how “the Irish whiskey community pulls together rather than apart when facing adversity”—leaning on collaboration, shared tastings, and mutual support to keep itself moving forward.
John Cashman of Powerscourt Distillery, an Icons of Whisky Hall of Famer with nearly three decades of producing whiskey, delivered the keynote address. Cashman underscored how “Irish whiskey has gone from underdog to global contender”, stressing the importance of education, innovation, and, above all, passion. It was part pep talk, part big-picture look at where the Irish whiskey category is heading next.
One of the unique features of the Irish Whiskey Awards is that the blind-tasted results are decided by tasting panels from whiskey clubs and societies across Ireland—not by a handful of judges behind closed doors. This year’s panels included members from more than 10 whiskey societies across Ireland.
The awards have a strong charitable focus. Each year, the event shines a light on its partnership with Mary’s Meals, which now helps feed more than 2.5 million children worldwide. Money raised through ticket sales and donations from the Irish Whiskey Awards supports Kapatamoyo School in Zambia, funding daily meals for over 700 children.
Highlights from the 2025 Irish Whiskey Awards
Irish Whiskey of the Year (Overall Winner)
Dunville’s 24-Year-Old Palo Cortado Single Malt
Dunville’s began life as the whiskey brand of Dunville & Co., a Belfast tea, soap, and spirits merchant that moved into whiskey blending in the early 19th century. As demand for its whiskies grew, the company built the Royal Irish Distilleries in Belfast in the late 1800s, at the time one of the largest and most modern distilleries in Ireland. At its peak, Dunville’s produced well-known brands such as Dunville’s VR and Dunville’s Three Crowns, and exported Irish whiskey worldwide.
Despite its success, the distillery didn’t survive the combined pressures of U.S. prohibition, the Great Depression, and the long decline of Irish whiskey. The Royal Irish Distilleries closed in the 1930s, and the Dunville’s name disappeared from shelves for decades, living on mainly in the memories of collectors and in the odd surviving bottle.
The brand was revived in the 21st century by the Echlinville Distillery in County Down, Northern Ireland. Echlinville secured the rights to the Dunville’s name and has made it the flagship of its independent bottling and single malt program, releasing a series of well-regarded, often sherry-influenced single malts and vintage cask bottlings.
Under Echlinville’s stewardship, Dunville’s has re-emerged as one of the most decorated names in contemporary Irish whiskey, with its Palo Cortado finishes—21 YO and 24 YO in particular—becoming modern reference points for richly sherried Irish single malt.
Dunville’s 24 Year Old Palo Cortado Single Malt, 55% ABV, 700 ml
This 24-year-old Irish single malt, initially matured in ex-bourbon oak and finished in Palo Cortado sherry casks, is bottled at cask strength, typically in the mid-50% ABV range. The actual ABV varies by cask. It’s non-chill filtered and has natural color.
The nose features a layered complexity of dried fruits —primarily figs, dates, dried apricots, and raisins —along with orange marmalade, grapefruit pith, and burnt sugar. The Palo Cortado finish contributed aromas of toasted almonds, hazelnuts, and walnuts, and a subtle rancio edge of furniture polish, furniture, and old leather.
There are additional aromas of honeyed malt, vanilla fudge, crème brûlée, toffee, accompanied by cigar tobacco, cedar shavings, dark chocolate, espresso coffee, and spice notes of cinnamon bark, clove, and cracked black pepper, and candied ginger.
It’s full-bodied, sweet, and silky, with a viscous mouth-coating texture and distinctive palate weight, while retaining a balanced, fruit-forward character. It showcases flavors of brown sugar, roasted nuts, dried figs, dates, candied orange peel, and dark chocolate.
The nutty and dried-fruit notes become more pronounced as the whiskey opens up, featuring roasted almonds, pecan pie, and walnut bread, along with stewed plums, baked apples, and spiced poached pears.
There are additional notes of cooked cereal/malt, vanilla custard, butterscotch, seasoned oak, hints of sandalwood, cigar box, and pipe tobacco, along with spice notes of cinnamon, clove, allspice, and cracked white pepper. A dry, slightly saline backbone also highlights the Palo Cortado Sherry influence.
The finish is long and sweet, with layered complexity, featuring lingering notes of dark chocolate, candied orange peel, dried fruit, toasted nuts, leather, pipe tobacco, oak, and espresso.
Blended Whiskey No-Age Statement
Winner: Jameson 18 Year Old
Gold Medal: Hinch 5 YO Double Wood 43%
Gold Medal: HYDE 10 Year old Special Reserve
Single Malt 11 years and Under (Low-Priced)
Winner: The Whistler French Oak 10-year-old
Gold Medal: Dunville’s 10 Year Old Palo Cortado Sherry Cask Finish Single Malt
Gold Medal: Fercullen Cask Members Release
Single Malt 11 Years and Under (High-Priced)
Winner: Copeland Double Distilled Pino Hogshead 46%
Gold Medal: The Whistler PX I Love You
Gold Medal: Dublin Liberties Oak Devil Irish Whiskey
Single Malt 16 Years and Over
Winner: Dunville’s 21 Year Old Palo Cortado Sherry Cask Finish Single Malt
Gold Medal: Dunville’s PX 23 Year Old Single Malt
Gold Medal: Bushmills 21 Year Old Single Malt Irish Whiskey
Single Cask 11 Years and Under
Winner: Celtic Cask 57
Gold Medal: Dunville’s 10 Year Old Moscatel Wine Cask Finish – Distillery Exclusive
Gold Medal: ShortCross Rye & Malt- Waterford Whiskey Society Exclusive
Single Cask 12 Years and Older
Winner: McConnells Old Cromac 20 Year Old
Gold Medal: Dunville’s 25 Year Old Palo Cortado Sherry Cask Finish Exclusive for James J Fox
Gold Medal: Hinch 23 Year Old – Waterford Whiskey Society Exclusive – Ximenez- Spinola Cask 55.7%
Blended Whiskey Limited Edition
Winner: Micil Irish Whiskey – Inverin Single Cask Amontillado
Gold Medal: Writers’ Tears Mizunara Cask
Gold Medal: Writers’ Tears Ice Wine Cask
Blended Whiskey No Age Statement (Low-Priced)
Winner: The Busker- Triple Cask
Gold Medal: Bushmills Black Bush
Gold Medal: Jameson Crested
Blended Whiskey No Age Statement (High-Priced)
Winner: Writers’ Tears Double Oak
Gold Medal: Natterjack: The Mistake
Gold Medal: Lir Irish Whiskey – Red Crest
Single Grain Whiskey
Winner: WD O’ Connell 15 Year Old Single Grain Irish Whiskey – Oloroso Cask
Gold Medal: Glendalough Double Barrel Cask Strength Irish Whiskey
Gold Medal: The Bridge – Portaneena Single Grain Irish Whiskey
Best New Irish Whiskey
Winner: Hinch Warehouse 3 Exclusive – Virgin American Oak #10000 60.6%
Gold Medal: Boann Marsala Cask Finish
Gold Medal: Hinch Warehouse 3 Exclusive – Paez Morilla Sherry 59.8%
Single Pot Still Whiskey 11 Years and Under
Winner: Redbreast Lustau
Gold Medal: Green Spot Chateau Leoville Barton
Gold Medal: Teeling Wonders of Wood Series III Swedish Oak
Single Pot Still Whiskey 12 Years and Over
Winner: Redbreast 15 Year Old
Gold Medal: Midleton Very Rare Barry Crockett Legacy
Gold Medal: Red Spot 15 Year Old
Peated Whiskey
Winner: Achill Island Peated Cask Strength 60%
Gold Medal: Copeland Peated Malt Batch 1
Gold Medal: WD O’Connell Bill Phil 5 Year Old Peated Irish Whiskey – Rum Cask
Cask Strength Whiskey
Winner: Dunville’s 24 Year Old PX Cask Strength
Gold Medal: Redbreast 27 Year Old
Gold Medal: Hinch Warehouse Exclusive No. 3- Rioja Cask
Single Malt 12 – 15 Years Old Whiskey
Winner: Dunville’s PX 13 Year Old Single Cask for Stitch & Weave
Gold Medal: Bushmills Causeway Collection 2011 CWS Oloroso
Gold Medal: The Irishman 12 Year Old Single Malt
Poitín
Winner: The Bodán
The Irish Whiskey Awards continue to highlight the diversity, craftsmanship, and creativity that define the Irish spirits industry. Organizer Ally Alpine noted, “These awards are truly a collective effort. Every year we’re reminded of the incredible passion and talent across Ireland — from the largest distilleries to the smallest craft operations.”
If you are a fan of Irish whiskey or merely curious about its offerings, this year’s list of top Irish whiskeys from the 2025 Irish Whiskey Awards is an excellent place from which to start exploring the best of Ireland’s drams.