On Tuesday we sadly left the lovely and picturesque Killarney and headed east. Because we were not feeling very well still (my fever was still raging) we only managed to drag around the Old Midleton Distillery in Midleton which is just outside Cork. This is where Jameson Whiskey was distilled for 150 years. Mum is fan of Scotch and so originally there were quite a few distillery visits planned for our trip that we weren’t able to squeeze in. We took a tour of the distillery to see how the whiskey is made from barley and malt. Apparently what distinguishes this whiskey is that it is triple distilled instead of twice distilled as is the case for Scotch. This is supposed to give is a smoother taste. Since I’m not a whiskey aficionado I’ll take their word for it.
Midleton Brewery – Buildings from 1825 used to brew all Jameson Whiskey until 1975
Midleton Distillery (ignore the finger – I was burning up with fever)
Of course like all of these tours and events it ends with a free whiskey. From our tour group 8 volunteers got to do a whiskey tasting in which they compared Scotch, Bourbon (made from corn), and Jameson Irish Whiskey. Neither of us was up to this exercise so we didn’t volunteer! Mum gamely tried the Jameson though but wasn’t a convert declaring Scotch more interesting.
Mum enjoying her free whiskey
Bearic enjoying his share of the take
We then headed to our B&B which was around the corner and went to bed. Happily by evening lots of paracetamol (aka acetaminophen) had brought my fever under control a bit.