BlogOn this day 211 years ago, the story of Dunville’s Irish Whiskey began.
On 11th October 1808 the Belfast Commercial Chronicle carried an announcement that ‘William Napier and John Dunvill respectfully inform their friends and the public that they have commenced the Wine and Spirit Business at No. 13 Bank Street under the firm of Napier and Dunvill’.
From that day onward, the name Dunvill (later changed to Dunville) would become synonymous with Irish whiskey.
John Dunvill was introduced to the whiskey business in 1801 as a 16 year old apprentice to William Napier, a well-known Belfast brewer, distiller and tea importer. Napier and Dunvill built a successful partnership and in 1825 John Dunvill bought his partner’s share of the company. The name of the firm was changed to Dunville and Company and moved to new premises in Calender Street, Belfast.
From there unfolded the story of Dunville’s Irish Whiskey. A story of of unprecedented global success that would give way to a tragic and untimely demise until the brand’s revival by Echlinville and our continuing journey towards restoring Dunville’s to its rightful place among the premier whiskeys of the world.
*Image courtesy of the Linen Hall Library, Belfast.
