Whiskey School, Part 1

Shortly before we headed off to the U.S. for vacation, I had to go back to school for a couple of days. Whiskey school.  So I found myself in beautiful (but far away) Dingle in late June.

Scenic hike along Dingle Bay

I got there around 5pm the day before, so I went for a nice hike.  I attempted to go a local seafood restaurant, but they claimed to be full.  So after looking around for a while, I settled on a nice creperie for an enjoyable dinner (crepe and salad, followed by a dessert crepe, with a bit of cider to wash it all down).

After some ice cream (I just couldn't resist), I thought I'd stumbled into a local pub for some Irish music.  But there was no music, only a couple of people watching a World Cup match.  So I watched, too.  (The touristy pubs with not very Irish music didn't look that appealing.)

The next day was the start of my two-day whiskey school.  It started at an Irish 9am, or so the general manager told me earlier in the week.  But it was closer to 10 by the time we started.  It was so warm that "class" was held outside.  There were about 14 of us, divided roughly into two groups - potential whiskey makers and people who like whiskey.

The distillery (the barrels are empty, of course)

It was quite interesting, although there was quite a bit of waiting around.  In essence, the idea was to follow, in real time, the process from when the grains are added to the water until it is put into casks.  The first day is when the "beer" is made.  It was all very pleasant.  The master distiller joined us halfway through day 1.  He is Scottish and has been in the business for 50+ years.  After decades working for various distillers, he now consults with distilleries such as this one.

The first step on the journey to whiskey

The distillery (obviously)

One clever marketing tool used by the distillery is the idea of a "founding father".  Since they can't legally sell whiskey until it has aged for at least 3 years, the distillery could use some income in the near term.  So they have offered to sell the first 500 casks to "founding fathers."  Well, what can I say?  I liked the idea of owning a cask of whiskey.  So I've convinced some friends that they want to own some whiskey, too (and I used some of Aunt Reta's inheritance - I think she'd be proud).

Someday, my name will be up there, too

At the end of day one, we enjoyed gin & tonics outside, as the distillery also makes boutique gin.  I was able to talk my way into taking a bottle home, so LBJ at least got something in return for my 2 and 1/2 day absence.

Then, they drove us "over the pass" (the road is pretty narrow on the other side - one lane for much of the way down) to a neighboring village for dinner.  The view was amazing, even though it had started to rain by then.  Dinner was very tasty as well (salmon and veggies, with apple crisp for dessert).

View from the pass

View the other way (with some tourist in the way)

The only disappointing part of the day was the pint of the local lager, which I tried while waiting for dinner - the worst pint of Irish beer I've had since arriving here over two years ago,  (It was drinkable, just tasteless - Carlsberg would have been better.)

Got back to my room after 9, so I stayed in and did a bit of work.