Day 1 - Jameson Distillery
Day 1- 28th May 2007
Jameson Distillery
A great way to end your day walking around Dublin is a tour of The Old Jameson Distillery. Jameson is sold all over the world today but has its roots in this small distillery in Bow Street, founded in 1870 by John Jameson. His family motto was ‘Sine Metu’ meaning ‘Without Fear’, which appears today on every bottle of Jameson.
Jameson was produced in this Dublin site for nearly 200 years until 1971. The tour is more than a history lesson, it is a tour through the craft of Irish Whiskey making.
The journey begins with an introductory video entitled ‘The Story of Jameson Whiskey’, then you will take a journey back in time and walk through the many different stages of Irish whiskey making:
Grainstore – Stage 1
Jameson takes many years to make and mature but there are only three main ingredients: pure Irish water, malted barley and unmalted barley. The distillery purchased all their barley at harvest time and the farmers would deliver it by horse and cart. The men carried the sacks of grain on their backs and some were as heavy as 100kg.
Malting – Stage 2
The malted barley was dried in closed kilns to ensure an unsmoked smooth taste, unlike the taste found in Scottish whiskey that is where they blow peat smoke through the malt, giving Scotch Whiskey a smokey, peaty taste that you wont find in Jameson.
Milling – Stage 3
The malted barley and unmalted barley was then milled into coarse flour called grist. The water wheel was the main power source – turning a network of cogs and wheels which provided power to turn the millstone.
Mashing – Stage 4
The grist was then mixed with hot water at a temperatue of 63’c in an enormous vessel called the ‘Mash Tun’. The mixture was stirred by large rakes and the starches from the grains were converted into fermentable sugars. After four hours of mashing , the rakes stopped and sweet liquid called ‘wort’ was drawn and sent on to the next stage in the whiskey making processes.
Fermentation – Stage 5
The ‘wort’ was then pumped to the ‘washback’, liquid yeast was then added and fermentation began. After 80 hours all the sugar was converted into alcohol. The liquid now called ‘wash’ contained just 8% alcohol by volume (abv). The ‘wash’ was then ready for the next stage of the whiskey making process, distillation.
Distillation – Stage 6
The Still House is the heart of the distillery where the distilling occurs. Distilling is the art of separating alcohol from water. The wash was heated and alcohol condensed in traditional large copper pot stills. Jameson is obtained only after three separate distillations whilst American Bourbon is normally distilled only once and most Scotch whiskey is distilled twice. Each stage results in smoother superior quality, so that is why triple distillation is the key to Jameson’s smoothness.
Maturation – Stage 7
The spirit was filled into oak and casks and stored in vast, dark, aromatic warehouses to mature. The barrels were imported from Spain, Portugal and America, where they were previously used to store mature sherry, port or bourbon. This added to the flavour of the maturing Jameson and the tannin in the wood also gave a rich golden colour to the Irish whiskey. The casks were assembled and maintained by the cooper. The cooper was a very skilled worker who had to serve a seven year apprenticeship under the Master Cooper.
Marrying and Vatting – Stage 8
Before bottling, the mature whiskey was emptied into a huge vat and allowed to marry for a few days. The cask strength was reduced to 40% abv (80 proof), ready to be enjoyed.
To this day Jameson continues to be made according to the high standards of its founder, John Jameson. At the end of the tour you are invited to enjoy a complimentary glass of Jameson. The Gurus Explore Team thoroughly enjoyed their Jameson Experience. They were lucky enough to dine in the 3rd Still Gourmet Restaurant and relax at the end of the shoot with in the Reserve Bar where we learnt more about their range of premium whiskeys within the Jameson family. There is also a great gift shop to pick up those last minute gifts for those back home in Australia so that they too can enjoy the Jameson Distillery experience.
The Old Jameson Distillery
Bow St
Smithfield
Dublin 7
Tel: 00 353 1 807 2355
Fax: 00 353 1 807 2369
Email: reservations@ojd.ie
www.jamesonwhiskey.com
Jameson Distillery
A great way to end your day walking around Dublin is a tour of The Old Jameson Distillery. Jameson is sold all over the world today but has its roots in this small distillery in Bow Street, founded in 1870 by John Jameson. His family motto was ‘Sine Metu’ meaning ‘Without Fear’, which appears today on every bottle of Jameson.
Jameson was produced in this Dublin site for nearly 200 years until 1971. The tour is more than a history lesson, it is a tour through the craft of Irish Whiskey making.
The journey begins with an introductory video entitled ‘The Story of Jameson Whiskey’, then you will take a journey back in time and walk through the many different stages of Irish whiskey making:
Grainstore – Stage 1
Jameson takes many years to make and mature but there are only three main ingredients: pure Irish water, malted barley and unmalted barley. The distillery purchased all their barley at harvest time and the farmers would deliver it by horse and cart. The men carried the sacks of grain on their backs and some were as heavy as 100kg.
Malting – Stage 2
The malted barley was dried in closed kilns to ensure an unsmoked smooth taste, unlike the taste found in Scottish whiskey that is where they blow peat smoke through the malt, giving Scotch Whiskey a smokey, peaty taste that you wont find in Jameson.
Milling – Stage 3
The malted barley and unmalted barley was then milled into coarse flour called grist. The water wheel was the main power source – turning a network of cogs and wheels which provided power to turn the millstone.
Mashing – Stage 4
The grist was then mixed with hot water at a temperatue of 63’c in an enormous vessel called the ‘Mash Tun’. The mixture was stirred by large rakes and the starches from the grains were converted into fermentable sugars. After four hours of mashing , the rakes stopped and sweet liquid called ‘wort’ was drawn and sent on to the next stage in the whiskey making processes.
Fermentation – Stage 5
The ‘wort’ was then pumped to the ‘washback’, liquid yeast was then added and fermentation began. After 80 hours all the sugar was converted into alcohol. The liquid now called ‘wash’ contained just 8% alcohol by volume (abv). The ‘wash’ was then ready for the next stage of the whiskey making process, distillation.
Distillation – Stage 6
The Still House is the heart of the distillery where the distilling occurs. Distilling is the art of separating alcohol from water. The wash was heated and alcohol condensed in traditional large copper pot stills. Jameson is obtained only after three separate distillations whilst American Bourbon is normally distilled only once and most Scotch whiskey is distilled twice. Each stage results in smoother superior quality, so that is why triple distillation is the key to Jameson’s smoothness.
Maturation – Stage 7
The spirit was filled into oak and casks and stored in vast, dark, aromatic warehouses to mature. The barrels were imported from Spain, Portugal and America, where they were previously used to store mature sherry, port or bourbon. This added to the flavour of the maturing Jameson and the tannin in the wood also gave a rich golden colour to the Irish whiskey. The casks were assembled and maintained by the cooper. The cooper was a very skilled worker who had to serve a seven year apprenticeship under the Master Cooper.
Marrying and Vatting – Stage 8
Before bottling, the mature whiskey was emptied into a huge vat and allowed to marry for a few days. The cask strength was reduced to 40% abv (80 proof), ready to be enjoyed.
To this day Jameson continues to be made according to the high standards of its founder, John Jameson. At the end of the tour you are invited to enjoy a complimentary glass of Jameson. The Gurus Explore Team thoroughly enjoyed their Jameson Experience. They were lucky enough to dine in the 3rd Still Gourmet Restaurant and relax at the end of the shoot with in the Reserve Bar where we learnt more about their range of premium whiskeys within the Jameson family. There is also a great gift shop to pick up those last minute gifts for those back home in Australia so that they too can enjoy the Jameson Distillery experience.
The Old Jameson Distillery
Bow St
Smithfield
Dublin 7
Tel: 00 353 1 807 2355
Fax: 00 353 1 807 2369
Email: reservations@ojd.ie
www.jamesonwhiskey.com
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