Dublin, Ireland: Jameson Distillery Tour

Jameson always brings me back to the good ‘ol college days when I would buy alcohol in immensely large containers. Okay, I still do. But what I did not know is that Dublin has a Jameson Distillery right next to my hostel! It’s both a convenient and terribly awesome idea…

If you ever wanted to know how Jameson is made, be sure to make this tour a part of your trip in Dublin. Unlike the Guinness Storehouse, this tour is guided by a person who takes guests from the start of the whiskey making process all the way to the whiskey tasting at the end of the tour.

Similar to Guinness, Jameson is made from barley as the only grain, making this liquor wheat-free. The initial stages of whiskey making are actually very similar to beer with the differences starting in the distillation process. Irish whiskey is always distilled 3 times and aged in barrels for 3 years and 1 day (to account for leap years). Once aging is done, bottling can happen, which produces the same bottles of Jameson you would find at your local store.

I personally found the tour to be very educational and well worth the visit. It’s always great to know where your food is coming from and how it is made.

Fun fact:

Did you know you can personalize your own bottle of Jameson at the distillery? For 60 euros, visitors can have a bottle of Jameson Distillery Reserve personalized with their name.

For those who want to take it another notch up, try bottling your own whiskey for 100 euros. Visitors can build their own bottle of whiskey at the distillery, including actually fill the empty bottle up with whiskey and put the labels on it. The whiskey in the bottle is a Jameson Select Reserve Cask Strength, which means it’s much stronger than the typical 40% alcohol. I believe it falls somewhere around 59%. It’s a great idea for gifts for the holidays and/or birthdays!