Hi All – I hope you’ve had an excellent weekend and your favorite team won or will win. I had the opportunity to travel to Ireland a few weeks ago and had a wonderful time. Ireland has excellent places to visit and the people are very friendly. I would recommend a visit to the Jameson Distillery in Dublin as the Jameson history is interesting and the distillery itself is incredible. You’ll get to participate in a tasting, at the end of the tour, where you’ll compare three different brands of whiskeys. We tasted the Jameson Original, Jack Daniels Old No. 7, and Johnnie Walker Black Scotch Whisky. I’m not a whiskey drinker so acknowledge my amateur status, but here goes…. In the spirit of education, you’ll note that I’m using the words “whiskey” and “whisky”. We spell American and Irish whiskeys, more commonly, with the “e”. Whisky is spelled without the “e” in Scotland, Canada, Japan and other countries. The Johnnie Walker Black is a Scotch Whisky aged for 12 years. To be called Scotch Whisky it must be made entirely in Scotland. It doesn’t have to paint itself in white and blue and yell “Give me freedom!” William Wallace style, but you get the picture. Common tasting notes for many Scotch whiskies include more peat and more earthy tones. The Johnnie Walker Black whisky did have notes of peat, smoke, and a slight vanilla taste. The peat tone was the strongest to me and it wasn’t my favorite as was too earthy for me. I then tried the Jack Daniels Old No 7 and detected notes of vanilla, maple, sweet oak, and a spice. It was a bit too much of a maple taste for me, but you could pour it on pancakes and start your day off in a new and interesting way. Finally, I tasted the Jameson Whiskey and liked the notes of vanilla, a slight spice of clove, and more caramel. You could probably say the whole tasting was rigged given it was at the Jameson Distillery, but I did like the Jameson the best. I’m a sucker for marketing I guess. Nonetheless, I’d recommend this Irish whiskey. If you’re not a whiskey neat or whiskey on-the-rocks person, you could try a shot of Jameson with Ginger Ale and a squeeze of lime. It’s a refreshing little drink. You can find the Jameson Original Whiskey at liquor stores for around $21 to $24 per bottle.
