The outside of Mabos looking quite fiery!
The transformation inside. This is one of the official event photos as my camera wasn't up to much in the darkened lightening unfortunately!
I like whiskey, though my preference is for scotch whisky, but what really interested me about this event was the craft element. Jameson's master cooper, Ger Buckley, was present to give us a demonstration in the art of barrel production. It was truly amazing, he disassembled and then reassembled a barrel before taking it outside to burn the insides.
Ger about to take the barrel apart. (another official pic)
Lighting the barrel (another official pic)
It's the burning of the barrel that gives this new whiskey it's unique taste and of course it's name! I have to say I was pleasantly surprised by it. While it still had the underlying smoothness and vanilla flavours that Jameson is famous for there was also hints of smoke and spices. The finish was really strong and robust. This is definitely one that I will consider for the future. While M is not a whiskey drinker he did enjoy the cocktails very much, it was similar to a whiskey sour but with apples instead of lemons. Far, far too easy to drink! There has been somewhat of a revival of whiskey cocktails in the last few years and I think Jameson Black Barrel will sit in nicely into this niche market.
Some easy to drink cocktails!
Whiskey straight up!
It seems that Jameson are still paying attention to detail despite their every growing enterprise down in Midleton. This launch comes only a few months after the exciting collaboration between Franciscan Well and Jameson which you can read about here. I can't wait to hear about the next invention to come from this East Cork distillery.
Entertainment for the night.
The Jameson ice sculpture! Pretty amazing, no?