I show you how to make a whisky Irish coffee and s’mores. Open fire is optional!
Viewing entries tagged
Ireland
Recently I got the chance, on a fairly cold day, to visit the New Midleton Distillery in Midleton, Co Cork, Ireland. This is a very big facility and happens to be home to a few of the cornerstones of Irish Whiskey: Jameson, Powers, Paddy, Redbreast, Midleton Very Rare, Green Spot & Yellow Spot and of course a lot of contract distilling including names like Tullamore Dew and many more.
Now when you visit there are a few different kinds of tour you can take part in. All well and good, in fact a few years ago I did the historical tour which if you’re a random tourist who’s semi-interested in whiskey there are worse ways to spend your afternoon.
If however you love whiskey and already have a bit of experience as to how whiskey is made then you should go with the “Behind the Scenes Tour” or the “Distiller’s Apprentice Tour” these are the ones that take you behind the scenes and into the main production and storage warehouses.
I was invited there by Jameson and we were taken around by John Madden who honestly was a fantastic guide with a very in-depth knowledge of how the place runs and who’s who in the Irish whiskey world. We started off having a look at the historical distillery which like I say is interesting but more in a tourist attraction kind of way. Then we were quickly at the Method and Madness craft distillery where all of the new experimental liquid is coming from. If you look closely you’ll also see the original gin still from when the original distillery first opened.
Then we went on to the main part of the show: the first stop was the Irish Whiskey Academy. We got a much more in-depth look at modern whiskey production and got to try different kinds of new make, from different grains and of course in different strengths. All very polished and very interesting.
After around 30 minutes and a quick tasting of the Black Barrel and Green Spot we headed on to the main distillery. Wow this is a one off in Ireland just because of shear scale and technical prowess. Sadly no pictures of the still room but you’ll know that from visiting other distilleries, they’re never too hot on having the heart of the production photographed. At the moment they’re very close to full production and are making a staggering 150,000 standard barrels per annum! …. and this brings us onto the next part of the tour. The barrel warehouses. 42 of them in total and full to the brim with beautiful whiskey. I’ve added a few photos and a video but honestly, seeing it live gives you the real idea of the scale. The thing that hit me wasn’t just the scale but the distance. We drove past warehouse after warehouse after warehouse and were told about the expansion plans for the coming years, all that whiskey that’s being produced day and night has to be matured somewhere. I did mention that I have a bit of space going in my basement in case they get stuck, let’s see…
The highlight came next though: a grand bit of cask opening. I was treated to a fully matured 16 year old ex-bourbon single pot still which was great but then the trump card was packed out: a 21 year old ex-port pipe. I could try describing it but any tasting notes I’d write wouldn’t do it justice because with all whiskey the atmosphere plays a huge role and with that our tour slowly came to an end.
Thanks again to my guide John Madden, Adam at the distillery and my Pernod Ricard representative in Hamburg, Raffael Koch.
I've just come back from Ireland and we had amazing weather... for a change. We also got to visit a very special distillery: Waterford Distillery. This is high-tech, state of the art stuff with two beautiful stills from Islay at the heart of it. Very impressive. Haven't heard of it yet? I bet you've heard of Mark Reynier the former head of Bruichladdich though. You mightn't know them as they haven't released any whiskey to date but flippin hell have they been busy and trust me you will know them very soon. First off, the guys we met there were brilliant, so a big cheers to Eamonn and Padraig for taking such care and time out of their day for us. I don't really know how to start explaining what this distillery is up to because they are doing so much and are more or less resetting the Irish Whisky industry or maybe even bringing it back to its roots. We've all heard of the Irish Whiskey Renaissance but I think this might be the start of the Irish Whiskey Revolution (I know, it's a pity they're not from Cork, but nobody's perfect). Another thing you might not know are the names of Irish barley farmers but you will in a few years, believe me. While we were there we got to try 3 kinds of new make from three different farms and I can safely say it's the first time I've seen an example of terroir or micro climate in Irish whiskey. One of them was being distilled while we were there. All three tasted completely different. Completely different. They ranged from super farmyard tasting to almost being a whisky as we know it but without any maturation. There has been talk going around recently about introducing a new kind of un-aged whiskey category for Ireland, one where there is no minimum time in the barrel. When I first heard it I was sceptical. Then I tried the new make in Waterford: It's already good, very good in fact - imagine what a little time in a decent barrel would do? I tried something there that even 12 months in a good barrel would transform into something fabulous! Imagine if it were possible to already buy this, rather than waiting the arbitrary 3 years? Well that's just my 2 cents and I'm definitely not saying that Waterford are the ones trying to introduce this system, I'm just super excited to try the final product. If even 1 % of the attention to detail I saw makes it to the first bottling we're all in for a good show. One thing I can tell you is this: These guys know what they're doing, so form an orderly line and get ready for something special.
Gearóid
PS I'll be one of the first in that line by the way.
PPS: It's founded on the site of a historic brewery so we got to see that too! My dad came along too, I'm sure you can guess from the photos who he is.
