Ireland - Whiskey Tastings
What would a trip to Ireland be without Irish Whiskey Tastings?!
We had a couple of formal tours/tastings that included the most famous Jameson Distillery Tour on Bow St in Dublin as well as one at Teeling Whiskey Distillery which is the only one still making the whiskey onsite in the historic area where Irish Whiskey originated. Teeling was just a few blocks from our hotel and a really cool experience – the guide gave us the full history of Irish whiskey distilleries, a tour through the actual process of making the whiskey, then we had a “trinity tasting” which consisted of the Teeling Small Batch, Single Grain & Single Malt – we enjoyed the sips and sat on the sofas to finish and relax.
The Jameson Distillery Tour was an educational experience too – they no longer make it here, but if your trip plans take you to County Cork, you can take a tour of their Midleton Distillery. Great tour on the history and how to make, smell, and taste the whiskey. We started with a choice of neat, on-ice, or a ginger and whiskey with lime (this became a favorite drink order for the week!) which we sipped on throughout the tour. At the end of the tour, we had a full tasting of 3 different types: Distillery, Regular, and Black Label – all good, but most favored the black label. We also learned about the Irish Distillers group, led by Jameson, includes these signature brands: Jameson, Redbreast, Midelton, Spot, Method, Knappogue, and Powers. You’ll have plenty of opportunity to taste elsewhere, as there are signs and bottles of them all across Ireland’s pubs.
We sampled others in Dublin at Darkey Kelly’s, rounded out the full Teeling Tasting by adding the Pot Still at Four Corners, and had several unique Irish Whiskey Sours. While technically not a true Irish Whiskey, we got to try a sip of Poitín (pronounced as "pot-cheen" means "small pot" in Irish) – homemade!
We also had to go for tasting the Irish Coffees at Harkens in Dublin – Red Fox Inn in County Kerry – Sean’s Bar in Athlone – all good but everyone agreed the one at the Red Fox was best of all (crazy crowd pleaser!)
While in Galway, we did a “silver flight” that included Redbreast 12yr, Yellow Spot, and Knappogue 16yr while we listened to a great local band at Busker Browns. Also had one of the best of the trip at O’Connells at the recommendation of Paul the bartender - the Redbreast Tawney Port Cask edition - this is the one to take home!
Sláinte!
Click here to see where we began our Ireland Trip!