Dunville's x Smash Bros Burger Pairing | Belfast Whiskey Week 2023

Name: Belfast Whiskey Week 2026
Start: 2026-07-24
End: 2026-08-01
Location: Belfast

Filed: 15 Jul 2023
By: Belfast Whiskey Week
Read: 4 min
Ref: BWW/23/980

There are collaborations, and then there are collaborations that feel like they were always meant to happen. On Thursday 27th October 2023, Dunville's Irish Whiskey and Smash Bros Burgers came together at Common Market for one of the most relaxed and genuinely enjoyable food pairing sessions of Belfast Whiskey Week — a casual, come-as-you-are afternoon and evening that proved uisce beatha doesn't always need white linen and hushed reverence to shine.

About This Event

Experience a Classic Collaboration between Dunville's Irish Whiskey and the famous Smash Bros Burgers in Common Market. This is a casual food pairing experience lasting between 3pm and 9pm. Please note that this session is not facilitated, and will consist of the following: Bespoke Dunville's Burger, Bespoke Cocktail & a Dunville's PickleBacks Timeslot: 12pm-3pm Start Time: 12pm Duration: 3hrs Venue: Common Market Drinks: 3 Drinks Type: Food Pairing Disclaimers Please note that individual dietary requirements are not being catered for with any food at this event. Each Brand/Distillery and Collaborative Partner have agreed to our Min/Max Pour Policy. Please Respect this, and enjoy your festival responsibly. Festival Participants who are deemed to be too inebriated, or are not respecting themselves, will not be permitted into events and venues. ALL Hosts/Ushers/Collaborators and Venue Staff have the right to refuse participants without question and recourse. Please Drink Responsibly. All events are only available to those 18 years old and over. Do not purchase tickets if you are under the age of 18. Be prepared to produce ID if required. Venue staff & ushers may ask you to provide ID when showing your valid tickets. You may be refused enter to events if you can’t prove your age. Some venues may change, if they do, you will be notified. All events are subject to changes out of the control of the festival organisers. Any issues, please contact us @belfastwhiskeyweek on socials, or via email on marketing@belfastwhiskeyweek.com or 07773675179 (8am-8pm) to discuss. NO Refunds will be given. Please only buy tickets if you are prepared to attend the event. Tickets are transferable. If you are going to transfer tickets please email, marketing@belfastwhiskeyweek.com

Looking Back

Common Market is the kind of Belfast venue that wears its city well — contemporary, unpretentious, and quietly confident in what it does. It was the right setting for an event that asked nothing of its guests except that they show up, settle in, and enjoy themselves. Between midday and 3pm, ticketholders arrived to find a spread built around three deceptively simple pleasures: a bespoke Dunville's burger, a bespoke cocktail, and — the crowd-pleaser — Dunville's PickleBacks. If you've never chased a measure of Irish whiskey with a shot of pickle brine, this was as good an introduction as any city could offer.

Dunville's is one of those names that carries genuine duchas — a heritage that runs deep into Belfast's own story. Once the most celebrated whiskey brand in the city before Prohibition and circumstance conspired against it, Dunville's was revived with care and now produces a range that speaks to both its Victorian roots and a modern palate. The Three Crowns expressions that most visitors encountered at BWW 2023 are approachable without being simple — fruit-forward, well-balanced, and obligingly versatile in cocktail form. Paired with a burger built around complementary flavours, the sweetness of the whiskey found something savoury and satisfying to lean against.

What made Event 76 stand out in the BWW 2023 calendar was precisely its lack of ceremony. There was no formal facilitation, no tasting notes read aloud, no pressure to perform appreciation. Guests moved at their own pace through a three-hour session that felt more like a good Thursday afternoon than a ticketed festival event — and that, in its own way, was a kind of craft. The Smash Bros team, who bring serious technique to what looks like casual fast food, had developed a burger specifically for the occasion, and the brine-forward picklebacks gave the whole session a coherent, playful thread.

Food pairing events have been a consistent strength of Belfast Whiskey Week, and 2023 was no exception. Those who wanted a longer, more structured table experience found it at events like the Morning Star's celebrated Nose to Tail Bespoke Lunch, while burger lovers with a whiskey in hand could also point to Tribal Burger's collaboration with Jameson or their Pleased to Meat session with Limavady as kindred spirits in the programme. Event 76 sat comfortably in that company — different in register, entirely its own thing.

At £15 for a bespoke burger, a cocktail, and a pickleback, this was festival value done honestly. No frills were missed because none were needed. Sláinte to Dunville's, to Smash Bros, and to Common Market for an afternoon that reminded us the best whiskey moments are often the ones you didn't overthink.