Friday, November 22, 2013

A Weekend on the Emerald Isle

Tullamore DEW Old Bonded Warehouse
Tullamore, Irealnd
On our first day in Ireland we drove across the entire country, coast to coast, and it only took 3 hours—Ireland’s not that wide.  We were driving from Dublin to the Cliffs of Moher. Along the way we stopped off in Tullamore to visit the Tullamore DEW whisky distillery. While in Scotland, I discovered that I liked Scotch, so I was eager to try some Irish whisky. Not particularly liking scotch, Joe was not as eager. There are many distilleries around Ireland. We chose Tullamore because it was on our route from Dublin to County Clare, it was cheaper than the Jameson tour in Dublin, and we’d heard of it.



Placemat for Tasting 3 Whisky Blends
Tullamore, Ireland

The Tullamore Dew visitor center opens at 9:30am and we arrived slightly before 10:00am. We inquired about tour times, but the text tour wasn’t until 10:20am. Since we didn’t have the time to wait around 30 minutes for an hour long tour to start we bought a tasting ticket instead for only €5.00. Before our tasting started we watched a little video about the history of the whisky, and then were walked through the museum on a personal mini-tour. Next, we tasted 3 blends of whiskies that were vastly different from scotch. They were also generous pours, Joe—the driver—didn’t finish his. Don’t worry though, no whisky was wasted on this tour; I finished his too.

The tour ended in the gift shop where all kinds of Tullamore DEW merchandise and whisky was available for purchase. There are 2 blends of their whisky that is only available in their visitor center. We wanted to buy a bottle, but I was hesitant to spend the requisite amount on whisky we hadn’t even tasted. Luckily, they had just opened a bottle at the bar, so I was able to taste it there with some of the bar maids. The 3 of us pronounced it delicious—Joe would just have to believe us—and we bought the bottle.

Useful Links!
Pictures from Our Trip!
Visit the Tullamore Dew Old Bonded Warehouse
Tullamore DEW Whiskies


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