Laura found the "Jameson Experience" that was a short 20 minutes away. We followed the wrong directions to the actual modern facility that had no end of signage telling us to turn around. The signs said to plot a six digit postal code which would take us directly there. Apparently each building in Ireland has its own postal code! We took the tour and really enjoyed the historical information. The whiskey sampling was really enjoyable. After the sampling, as they send us through the gift shop, we each were allowed another drink. Straight whiskey or a mixed drink were the options. Of course we chose to avail ourselves of all the possible libations. When I say we I mean Laura and I because Leslie does not like the whiskey.
Follow that sign!
Woody wood pigeon
Old school stone construction
A fine stream flowed through Midletown
The Town Hall Bar is a bar and the Town Hall
Oops wrong place!
Top of the Library to you!
The rest off the library
Glove crane
We are back to the old factory
Great old buildings
It is afternoon so drinking is now acceptable
A wall of whiskey
All Jameson
Back in Black
Obviously aged a long time
Mastered and then re-mastered
So very expensive! Aged 47 years
There was on that was aged 49 years and it cost 55,000 Euro
Aged 49 years
100 years ago
JJ as we like to call him
The door to the experience is here
In we go
First a short video
The tour begins
Come into the kiln building
Insulated shoes used by the workers to stand on the hot tiles
The hot air could pass through the tile and dry out the grain that is spread out on top of these tiles
This is how it looked with the grain all spread out
A fellow sized bellows
A huge waterwheel
Brought in from Birmingham after the wooden one degraded past useability
Big wheel keep on turning
The kiln is four or five stories tall. Smokeless coal would be burned on the lowest level and the hot exhaust would filter up through successive layers of tile and grain
Big head inserted for a sense of scale
A bit green these days
Yes I do mind my head
Driven either by the big water wheel or the steam engine, these gears run the grinding wheels
Purchased in 1834 from Liverpool for 800 pounds sterling. The equivalent of 2 million euros today
Two 45,000 gallon tanks for the first stage
Mr. Mannequin
That is a massive amount of wort
Barrels of various provenance
Here a still, there a still, everywhere a whiskey still
I am glad it is not moving, stay still house
Yet another huge wooden tank
After the third distillation
Barrells of fun
They use white oak from the Ozarks after it was used in American Bourbon making or Spanish barrels used in making sherry
Back in the day
A rocking mustache
Was much appreciated
Botanicals in a jar
The gin distillery
My favorite vessel
And then it goes in the bottle
This is the small batch distillery whare they make a mere 5 barrels a week
Even though it looks quite modern this is still a manual labor process
Three kettles for the three distilations
The first is the wash still
The second is the feints still and the last is the spirits still
A chaffing machine
Ring the bell!
The newer method of distilling
The largest copper kettle distilling pot
10,000 gallons!
Getting our lesson in distilling
Laura is to the left for scale
The pipe at the top sends the alcohol vapor over to the other kettles in the next room
The second and third distilling pots
A building was devoted to the barrels starting with the logs
Going to the barrels
After they are all used up a local carpenter makes some art
and some furniture
Shhh, the whiskey is resting
From left to right the moonshine straight out of the spirits still, one year in the barrel, three years in the barrel, six years, 12 years and 18 years
Having fun and learning too
John Jameson truck
Stop by and drop a barrel at our house
What do we have under the paper?
We have Jameson, Powers Gold Label and Green Spot whiskeys to sample
Yes to all three
Almost gone
Empty shot glasses all over the place
Mixed drinks were available at the final stage. Leslie got the Powers Honey Hi-ball that Laura split with me. Both Laura and I got the Powers served neat.
We did and we liked it
No is allowed out until they go through the gift shop
So much merch
Will this fit in my luggage?
