The Dingle Distillery Tour. Well worth ten of your euros!

The Dingle Distillery Tour

Well worth ten of your euros!

Welcome to the Dingle Distillery

 When you arrive at the Dingle Distillery, just west of the town, you’ll want to look inside. But your guide Joe tells you to look outside. “Look through the gates there,’” he says, then directs your gaze further out to the mouth of the harbour. It is, even on a dull day, a pretty picture and one that appears on the Dingle bottles.

It doesn't appear yet on their whiskey bottles, the reason being that their irish whiskey is not yet on sale. By law, Irish whiskey (spelt with an e) must mature for three years and one day. That period will be up for Dingle at the end of next year but it could be well into 2016 before Dingle Whiskey appears on the shelves, joining the gin and vodka which are now available and bringing badly needed revenue into the fledgling operation.

Joe took us, a small international group, though the history of the liquid. His story says it was “invented”, though more likely a happy accident, around the time of Christ. The Irish may well have been the first in the Northern Hemisphere to distil it though the first written reference to it here does not appear until 1405.

It is often claimed, and Joe endorsed it, that the word whiskey comes from the Irish word for water which is uisce. Uisce beatha is the Irish name for whiskey and this translates as water of life and has many equivalents (eg aqua vitae) in European languages.

Joe reckons the Norman invaders couldn't quite pronounce uisce (maybe they were drinking too much!) and changed it to whiskey. No shortage of humour when Joe’s your guide. He recalled an old Irish saying: “When you’re well, whiskey makes you sick; when you’re sick, whiskey makes you well.” Whiskey making though is no joke. “If things go wrong, you could end up with porridge.”

He took us through the technical details of the process as we walked around, telling us that towards the end, the alcohol count is in the high 70s, early 80s. The strength is reduced by adding water before bottling.

The process here follows the usual Irish practice.”Triple distillation gives a very smooth whiskey, much smoother than the Scotch which is double distilled.”

Spirit stills

 Dingle buy in Ethanol to make their gin and vodka (not Joe’s favourite drink: “does nothing for me”). This is already distilled four times. Dingle distil it one more time and, in the case of the gin, add in their own botanicals (which he didn't disclose!).

Gin, he told us, is a Dutch (not a British) invention and that is why we get the term Dutch courage for alcohol induced bravery. This was just one of a few explanations. He also had one for the term Blind Drunk, no laughing matter. Drinking methanol, one type of alcohol, will literally turn you blind.

Our tasting was of the Gin and Vodka (both in attractive distinctive bottles) and we got a few tips but generally the talk was of whiskey. Joe emphasized the importance of the casks but cautioned that to get good stuff out, you had to put good stuff in.

The cask of choice currently is one that had been previously used for Bourbon, Sherry or Port. We were able to taste some of the immature whiskey, including some at 20 months, and could get the flavour of whatever had been in the cask previously.

Quite a few people have invested in the distillery through buying a cask of the whiskey for the future and these casks are named and stored here. In addition, there is an internal wall where the names of the founding fathers are displayed.

It looks like they have made a wise investment. Joe says that there is a renaissance of interest in whiskey worldwide. Quoting from the New York Times, he said the foxy lady (a name sometimes used for the liquid) is appreciating in value at a higher rate than gold!

And that was it, tour over. On the way down, ex cop Joe said: “Drop into the office and I’ll take ten of your euros off you.” Well worth it Joe. Thanks for the entertaining and informative tour.

I was in Dingle for the Blas na hEireann Awards and the Food Festival. Read all about it here. The Taste Trail was another highlight of the weekend.

Great West Cork Distillery Tour. Beautiful Baltimore

Great West Cork Distillery Tour

Beautiful Baltimore. Bountiful Clonakilty. 

A terrific tour of the West Cork Distillery in Skibbereen was the highlight of the first part of our twenty four hours in West Cork. A twenty four hours that had some changes to the “plan”, a rather loose one admittedly.

First hiccup, if you could call it that, came on the way down when a phone call to Baltimore revealed that the two o’clock trip on the SeaSafari was off as the craft was out of the water for the afternoon and being cleaned up.

So then the Distillery tour, one o’clock start, was pencilled in. Got into Skibbereen in good time and called to a busy Apple Betty’s. Ordered a panini. That was a little slow in coming but it was gorgeous, a terrific filling of bacon, Cashel blue and a fantastic relish. Rushed it a bit and hot footed down the street to the Distillery.

John O'Connell (foreground) in the Distillery

Things didn't look good here as people were coming away rather than going in! Apparently, the Distillery weren't very happy with the time published in the "Taste of West Cork" brochure. Director John O’Connell explained they couldn't do the tour at one but would have “a good one” at three.

It worked out well, at least for us. We headed off in the sun (the weather forecast was not exactly spot-on either) to Baltimore, packed with people who seemed to know more than the forecasters. So packed, we didn't find a space in the car parks.

Off out the road we went to the Beacon and enjoyed marvellous views both on the way and during our walk up to the Baltimore landmark. Great views over the islands, Sherkin the nearest, and back to the little town. Later, we had a pause and a walk by the harbour. Hiccups yes but this day was going very well indeed.

The Beacon

So well, we nearly missed the tour or so we thought. But there was no rush as dozens and dozens of people arrived, the big numbers a surprise to John and his friendly staff. Still we were all settled, with a glass of their Drombeg, perhaps their most famous whiskey so far, and a good one too for this time of day as it is just twenty per cent abv.

John then took us on a walkabout of the distillery where the staff were still working. He took us through the process, from the malted barley coming in, and along the journey to the casks (they use sherry casks) and the bottling at the end.

Great informative stuff and more whiskey before we left, with tastings of their West Cork whiskey, the normal and the cask (57% abv!). If you like your whiskeys flavoured then Kennedy’s is the one for you. You may have it Spiced, Honied, Limed and Chillied! They also do a gin, poitin and a vodka here, under the Two Trees brand. And that’s not all.

The ferry, from Sherkin, just arrived in Baltimore

But that was it for us and we headed through the town and off to the Inchydoney Island for that evening’s magnificent nine course dinner “A Taste of West Cork”, all part of the week long food festival in the area. Read all about it here.

And there was yet more whiskey on arrival as we were pleasantly surprised with a glass of the lovely Irish Mist. Time then for a walk on the fantastic beaches here.

The Inchydoney Island Lodge and Spa is a four star hotel on the Wild Atlantic Way but I must say that the facilties and service that we enjoyed there were closer to five star. Great place with great staff. The only hiccup perhaps was a delay at breakfast but I think that was down to the many customers that all came together at about ten o’clock on the Saturday. Hard to legislate for that!

At Apple Betty's

They support local produce here obviously and I enjoyed my Scrambled Egg and Ummera Smoked Salmon before we headed off to Clonakilty in the morning mist. It had dried up by the time we arrived and we wandered through the streets looking for the Lettercollum Project shop.

We found it and it was busy, selling salads, tarts, cheese, wine, nuts, seeds, breads and so much more, much of it based on produce from their walled garden in nearby Lettercollum. We went off with enough salad (mixed beans) and bread for two delicious lunches over the weekend.

And we also found Vic and his organic Dexter beef in the market. The main market is on Friday but you’ll find some stalls operating on Thursday and Saturday. I’ll soon have a separate post up about Vic and his tasty beef but for the latest check out his Facebook page . 

Our twenty fours in West Cork were up and it was time to head back to the city. But we’ll return. Again and again!

Beer, Whiskey and Music, Music! Brewer Shane revisits the Whiskey Well

Beer, Whiskey and Music, Music!

Brewer Shane revisits the Whiskey Well

Shane Long (left) and Dave Quinn.

The new Franciscan Well Jameson Aged Pale Ale was launched during a lively evening in the Oliver Plunkett, Cork. Tuesday night’s event saw the new beer make its bow in the presence of Jameson whiskey, good company, and music upstairs and downstairs.

You may not hear it much nowadays but back in the day, “a pint and a drop” was a regular order in Irish public houses. But that pint (it could have been any of the stouts) and that drop (unless specified, could have been Paddy, Powers or whatever bottle was already open).

This new pairing though “is a specific pairing” according to the Franciscan Well’s Shane Long who went on to say that the ale’s bitterness had to be “toned down to accommodate the whiskey. This is not any old whiskey and beer”.

“The first batch of the ale won an international award and this second batch is even better”, said Shane who also revealed that the beer went into casks at 4% abv and came out with a 6% rating, hence the smaller bottle size (33cl). By the way, the casks (which had been used twice for whiskey) are now back in the distillery and are filled again with whiskey. “Watch this space!” we were told. And do watch out too for the famous Jameson Stout from the Well as that will be available again before Christmas.

Dave Quinn, Irish Distillers Master of Whiskey Science, filled us on on some of the technical details of the collaboration between the distillery and the brewery and went to describe the well-known well-loved whiskey. “Jameson is a complex whiskey but smooth and easy to drink with fruit, spice and floral characteristics. It is not smokey.”

The new beer is described as having biscuit and malt notes “with a hint of gooseberry fruity tartness, balanced by citrusy hop bitterness, and a smooth whiskey oak finish”. It is excellent on its own.

The Pairing.

But it reaches another level when “paired” with the whiskey. Take a sip of the Jameson and enjoy! Then follow with a sip of beer and you’ll appreciate an enhanced experience. The bitter hops of the pale ale are in perfect balance with the sweetness of the whiskey. And the combination leads to a smooth mellow finish. Time maybe to revive the pint and drop. Perhaps a glass and a drop!

The fun continued with Master Cooper Ger Buckley from Irish Distillers dismantling and reassembling a whiskey cask in the impressive Frisky Irish Whiskey room of the Oliver Plunkett and we had our own band upstairs. As live music played, I tried some of the other Franciscan Well beers on offer, starting with Friar Weisse (an old favourite of mine) and moving on to the excellent Chieftain IPA.

And it wasn't all drink. We had some nibbles at the start but the bar’s chef then treated us to some more substantial examples of his kitchen’s skills later on. Very good (especially that absolutely delicious slow cooked Beef Cheek pie) and very much appreciated. Finished the beer downstairs entertained by terrific traditional musicians and some energetic dancers! A lively pub, music every night of the week, and one to re-visit!

Food
* The new beer is available across Cork’s Whiskey Way bars where the staff are trained to educate punters about beer and whiskey pairing. Those bars are: Canty’s, Counihan’s, Electric, Le Chateau, SoHo Bar, The Mutton Lane Inn, The Oliver Plunkett, The Oval, The Roundy and The Woodford.

Music.