IRELAND’S ANCIENT EAST WHISKEY TRAIL

We pick up at your Dublin hotel at 10am and our 3 day whiskey adventure begins! Today, you will discover Ireland’s Ancient East. We’re travelling through the lesser beaten tourism track and we’ve two fantastic distillery visits lined up for you today. Our first stop is in the neighbouring county of Wicklow, famed for it’s country estates. We’re stopping at Powerscourt Estate this morning and we’re visiting Powerscourt Distillery –  a smashing start to this 3 day adventure. The distillery is set in a restored mill house on the estate. A highlight of this tour is the visit to the onsite maturation warehouse. We finish in one of the stylish tasting rooms for a tutored tasting of Fercullen whiskeys , including; Fercullen Falls (blend), Single Malt, The Gates (limited-edition release) . Time at leisure on Powerscourt Estate – pop over to the 18th century mansion for lunch and discover the landscaped gardens – voted No. 3 in the Top 10 Gardens of the World – by National Geographic! We continue south, taking the very scenic route through County Wicklow, all the way to County Kilkenny.

We’re just a short drive to Kilkenny. Kilkenny is a medieval city in southeast Ireland, arguably the most prominent medieval city in the country. We’ll leave you to explore it at leisure this evening. We’ve booked you at a 5***** hotel on the edge of town. You can transfer into the city to discover the grand Kilkenny Castle which was built in 1195 by Norman occupiers and overlooks the town. The town has deep religious roots and many well-preserved churches and monasteries, including the imposing St. Canice’s Cathedral and the Black Abbey Dominican priory, both from the 13th century. It’s also a crafts hub, with shops along its winding lanes selling pottery, paintings and jewellery – a shopper’s paradise! There’s no shortage of pubs with live music and great restaurants to choose from for dinner (we’ll ensure you’ve plenty of good recommendations!)

Enjoy a famous full Irish breakfast in your hotel, at your leisure this morning. We’re starting our visits today at a new distillery in Waterford City. Waterford Distillery is focused on establishing that terroir, a term usually associated with wine, does exist in whisky (note they spell it without the ‘e’). This is a really interesting tour.

Waterford is most famous for its hugely successful crystal of course, and after the distillery visit we’ll drop you to House of Waterford Crystal so you can enjoy some lunch maybe or browse the retail store and pick up a new Waterford Crystal decanter maybe! Then we take a 90-minute transit across the county of Waterford to County Cork, finishing today in the town of Midleton in East Cork – a very important town on the Irish whiskey map!

Full Irish breakfast at your hotel, at your leisure this morning. We’re turning north towards Dublin this morning, passing the village of Dungourney on the way out of Cork. The Dungourney River is the water source for the distillery in Midleton – all Jameson whiskey sold worldwide is made by water from this river. Just 40 minutes away, we have our first visit of the day, to Blackwater Distillery, on the banks of the River Blackwater. Peter, John and the gang operate a micro-distillery at Blackwater, making a delicious small-batch gin and they are resurrecting the original forgotten processes of making Irish whiskey. You will try some of their initial releases from the ‘Velvet Cap’ family.  The distillery is located in the sleepy village of Ballyduff in west Waterford. From here you’ll enjoy lovely scenery as we make our way to County Tipperary – it’s not ‘a long way’ as the song goes, it’s actually only another 40 minute drive from Blackwater.