When you think of Dublin, you think of Jameson. The sweet, liquid nectar is one of Ireland’s most famous sons, founded by the legendary John Jameson. The man himself wasn’t actually Irish, but Scottish (we won’t go into too many details…), yet when he moved in with the missus – he created the world’s best-selling whiskey, selling a massive 31 million bottles a year.
Jameson has been sold internationally since the early 19th century, although it wasn’t actually sold in bottles until 1968, and is most popular in America. In fact, the world’s biggest server of Jameson was a small bar in Minnesota, where regulars would go through an impressive 25 bottles a day. Imagine their stag or hen weekends… But, enough of all that and onto our epic trip.
A few of us pitched up for the tour early in the morning (after a night in the Temple Bar), ready to start digging (not literally) through the whiskey’s colourful past. We were assigned a tour guide, Bronagh, an expert in the stuff. She started the tour with a visit to a dark room to showcase a video of the history of Jameson, along with a few interesting facts thrown in for good measure. Did you know that Jameson factory workers received a free shot after a shift, yet would hide that shot in copper kettles to pretend they had gone empty handed? Therefore, they’d gain an extra shot. We know what you’re thinking; sounds like our kind of people.
After the video, we arrived in the ‘ingredients’ room, lined with aforementioned ingredients tables to go through the distillation process. The station was topped with malted and unmalted barley (top tip: don’t eat the unmalted barley, as you’ll break your teeth…), atomisers and whiskey in beakers that had been distilled for various periods of time. Bronagh allowed us to play with the station whilst going through the triple-distillation process – a Jameson signature – along with make friends with those at the table next to us. Geordies are very friendly, don’t you know.
At that point we left the room (arm in arm with the entire group) and onto the best bit of the tour: tasting. The tasting room featured a large circular table in the middle, with three shots (and that ever welcome water) for each person. Bronagh took us through the differences between American, Scotch and Irish whiskey, before (finally) letting us taste the lot. However, that’s not where the fun (drinking) ended as we each received a complimentary whiskey and ginger ale to take the edge off. There’s nothing like three whiskey shots to prepare you for a day of exploring Dublin…
For those that are interested (all of you) in taking the Jameson tour on your big weekend, take a look at our activity page. Or, you can book that Irish stag do or hen party straightaway on our Dublin destination page.