We live in a dry country, which means no Irish whiskey and Guinness. We are not accustomed to this, though we’re learning to enjoy the better nights’ sleep we often get. We do miss the “I had a crappy day of teaching, I need a whiskey or a glass of wine” kind of drinking. Anyways, when we do leave, one of the first things we do is find a place to have a nice drink. Ireland is the perfect place for this as Irish Whiskey and Guinness are two of my absolute favorite drinks!
Well friends, let me tell you…Ireland is the place for that! At least for me. As a lover of good whiskey (I’m particular to the Scottish Islays – Laphroaig and Lagavulin to be more specific), Ireland offers some amazing whiskey of their own. No doubt you’ve heard of Jameson, which even in its most basic form, makes a delightful glass of Irish Whiskey, yet there are unimaginable varieties!
The James Distillery
One of the last activities we had planned in Dublin was a trip to the Jameson Distillery/Museum. It’s no longer in use, but you can take a tour or do any number of other items. Instead of the tour (I mistakenly booked something else), we had a private tasting. Normally, reserved for about 40 people, due to Covid there were just four of us, which meant a very tailored tasting with good conversation.
A Wonderful Whiskey Wonderland
We started off by heading to John Jameson’s office in their original distillery, now bar/showroom. It was a beautiful setup and you were even able to sit at his desk and take an overly touristy photo!
We were on the tasting with another couple, who happened to be Irish and the woman had worked for Jameson and moved onto Bacardi, which doesn’t really fit into our tasting, I just find it an interesting side note.
Anyways, our host had been through a few programs and knew her stuff when it came to Jameson. They presented us with a flight of 5 different whiskeys. I cannot remember the names of the whiskeys we drank, but each was delicious in its own right. We learned about the processes involved with distilling different types of whiskeys, and the barrels used (Jameson actually uses old barrels from the US as I believe there is a restriction in place preventing them from using/creating new ones). Like wine, we learned about the viscosity, smelled different fragrances in the whiskey, and sloshed it about to discover the different tastes. It was a truly enjoyable experience.
Overall, they were all amazing whiskeys. Some I enjoyed more than others, some Ana enjoyed more than others, but on the whole…great set of whiskey. Jameson has never been my go-to, but for its price point, it’s certainly something I can see myself going after with more frequency.
St. James Gate and the Guinness Storehouse
Guinness! You’ve seen it in all three of my previous posts, but here it is! We were able to take a tour (not fully because the part was shut down to tours due to Covid) of the Guinness Storehouse (and see the St. James Gate!) and learn about the history of and process of brewing Guinness.
As I mentioned in another post, Guinness began using the Harp long before the Republic of Ireland did and it, like many other neat artifacts, was on display in the Storehouse. The process of brewing Guinness was interesting, though I find it to be so of all alcohols, though I particularly enjoyed learning about cask making. They had short videos running on how the cask makers used to create them and it was so interesting to watch as none of the barrels use any nails or adhesives.
A History of Guinness
It was also fun to see the history of Guinness. For example, when Arthur Guinness leased the land for his first brewery (the Storehouse) in Dublin, he signed a 9,000-year lease. Guinness holds themselves to this today, in that they hope to be there 9,000 years into the future (I hope so too!).
One of the most interesting aspects of the tour (self-guided) was looking at the Guinness advertising campaign through the years. Today, we often think of the Harp, but the Toucan was a prominent feature for a long time. I also did not entirely understand some of the exceptionally odd ads they had hanging.
Guinness has been my favorite beer since…forever and this opportunity was a dream come true. They had all kinds of fun little trinkets and things to buy in the gift shop as well. We ended up with a few magnets and overall, had a great time! We got a few drinks at the end of it all and just enjoyed the entire process.
Overall it was a definitely worthwhile experience and one we recommend you do if ever in Dublin!