The Dingle 2020 Palo Cortado is a single cask of single pot still Irish whiskey that you can only buy from The Whisky Exchange. Distilled in 2020 and matured for five years in one palo cortado sherry cask, it arrives in 2026 at cask strength, 59.6% ABV, non-chill filtered and with no added colour. Just 330 bottles exist. The price is £125 for a 70cl bottle, and The Whisky Exchange ships to much of Europe as well as the US and beyond.
Palo cortado is one of the rarer sherry styles, which makes this one of the more unusual Dingle single casks to reach a shelf.
The headline here is not just another Irish single cask. It is the combination of a scarce sherry type, a single cask at full strength, and a bottling you can only get from one retailer. If you want this specific whiskey, there is exactly one place to buy it.
What makes this release different: one palo cortado cask, and one shop
Most sherry cask whiskey you meet is matured or finished in oloroso or Pedro Ximénez casks. Palo cortado is a different animal. It begins life like a fino or amontillado, ageing under a layer of flor yeast, then loses that protective layer and develops the depth and weight of an oloroso. The result sits between two worlds: the poise of a lighter sherry with the richness of a darker one.
Full maturation in a single palo cortado cask, rather than a short finishing period, is uncommon. It means the cask has shaped the whiskey across the whole five years, not just the final months. For a single pot still spirit, which already carries a creamy, spice-led weight of its own, that pairing is the interesting part.
The exclusivity is the other half of the story. This is a single cask, so once the 330 bottles are gone, that is the entire run. There is no second batch. The Whisky Exchange selected and bottled this cask for itself, which is why it does not appear at any other retailer.
Who is Dingle, and why this cask suits them
Dingle Distillery sits in a converted sawmill in Milltown, on the edge of the town of Dingle in County Kerry, right on Ireland’s Wild Atlantic Way. It was founded in 2012 by Oliver Hughes, Liam LaHart and Peter Mosley, the team behind the Porterhouse Brewing Company, with the aim of reviving genuinely independent Irish distilling.
The first Dingle whiskeys were released in late 2016, and the distillery became one of the first independents in Ireland to bring back single pot still whiskey after a long absence from the category. That style, made from a mix of malted and unmalted barley, is the traditional Irish pot still recipe, and it gives Dingle’s spirit its characteristic creamy texture and gentle spice.
Dingle stays deliberately small. The whiskey is triple distilled, matured and bottled on site, and the distillery marries hand-selected casks rather than producing large blended volumes. That single cask, small-batch approach is exactly why a one-off palo cortado bottling like this fits the house so naturally.
Dingle 2020 Palo Cortado: official tasting notes
These are the notes published with the bottling. We have not tasted this cask ourselves, so treat them as the bottler’s guide rather than a take from thedailyqhisky.
Dingle 2020 Palo Cortado Cask (Exclusive to The Whisky Exchange) – tasting notes
Nose: vanilla fudge, dark fruit, a creamy sweetness
Palate: rich and layered, with a savoury sherry edge running underneath
Finish: brown sugar, shortbread, warm spice
ABV: 59.6% | Cask: single palo cortado sherry | Age: 5 years | Price: £125 (70cl)
Price and availability: where the exclusive part matters
Whiskey: Dingle 2020, single pot still Irish whiskey
Cask: single palo cortado sherry cask
ABV: 59.6%, cask strength
Age: 5 years (distilled 2020) Outturn: 330 bottles Presentation: non-chill filtered, natural colour Price: £125 for 70cl Where: The Whisky Exchange only
Because this is a single cask exclusive to one retailer, availability is the whole point. There is no wider distribution to fall back on. The Whisky Exchange ships internationally, to most of the EU, and to the US, so readers outside the UK can order it, but a 330-bottle run at an attractive price tends not to hang around.
Is it worth pursuing?
If you already like single pot still whiskey and you are curious about sherry cask maturation beyond the usual oloroso and PX, this is an easy one to understand the appeal of. A single palo cortado cask at cask strength, non-chill filtered and uncoloured, is about as transparent a bottling as you can ask for, and at £125 it is priced sensibly for a single cask rather than as a collector’s trophy.
It is less obvious a buy if you prefer your Irish whiskey lighter and at 40% to 46%, or if you want an age statement in double figures. At 59.6% this rewards a drop of water and some patience in the glass.
The catch is the one built into the concept: it is a single cask from a single shop, so this is a buy-it-now bottle, not a wait-and-see one. If the palo cortado angle appeals, it is worth moving before the 330 bottles are gone.
Frequently asked questions
What is the Dingle 2020 Palo Cortado Cask? It is a single cask of Dingle single pot still Irish whiskey, distilled in 2020 and matured for five years in one palo cortado sherry cask. It was bottled in 2026 exclusively for The Whisky Exchange at 59.6% ABV, with an outturn of 330 bottles.
What is a palo cortado cask? Palo cortado is a rare sherry style that begins ageing like a fino or amontillado under flor yeast, then develops the body and depth of an oloroso. A cask that held it passes on both a lighter aromatic lift and a richer, savoury weight, which is unusual compared with standard oloroso or PX casks.
How much does the Dingle 2020 Palo Cortado cost? The price is £125 for a 70cl bottle. That works out to around £104 excluding UK VAT for buyers outside the UK. It is a single cask bottling at cask strength, which is reflected in the price.
Where can I buy the Dingle 2020 Palo Cortado? It is exclusive to The Whisky Exchange and is not sold by any other retailer. The Whisky Exchange ships to many countries, including Denmark and much of the EU as well as the US, so international readers can order it while stock lasts.
Is the Dingle 2020 Palo Cortado cask strength? Yes. It is bottled at 59.6% ABV straight from a single cask, non-chill filtered and with no added colour. A little water will open it up if the strength feels too firm neat.
What is Dingle Distillery known for? Dingle is an independent Irish distillery founded in 2012 in County Kerry. It helped revive single pot still whiskey among Irish independents, distils, matures and bottles everything on site, and is known for small-batch, cask-driven releases rather than large blended volumes.
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