When you think of Ireland, what is one of the words that automatically comes to mind? WHISKEY! And when you think of Irish whiskey, what’s the first one you might think of? JAMESON!

You can purchase tickets online ahead of time for 14 Euros (or about $16.17 USD). I don’t remember seeing this option back in 2013, so it must be new. But if you do decide to purchase tickets the day of, you can use your student ID to get a discount.

Since we happened to go on St. Paddy’s Day (probably around 3 p.m.), the line was insane. I think they added two extra tours that day because there were so many people. We ended up being able to get tickets to the second to last tour, which I believe was at 5. So we did wait two hours but at least we got tickets – especially since it was the only day on our schedule we were free to go.

The tour lasts about an hour and they take you through each step of their distilling process. During the tour, they pick about 8 volunteers but they don’t tell you what you’re volunteering for. It turns out that those volunteers get to sample three different whiskeys at the end of the tour, while everyone is sipping on their complimentary drink (you have a choice of Jameson on the rocks, or Jameson with ginger ale and lime). If you’re one of the volunteers, you even get a whiskey tasting certificate afterwards! Which really doesn’t mean anything, but I still think it’s pretty cool. Looks great with your ‘Guinness Pour Certified’ certificate!

The three whiskeys are (of course) Jameson, Jack Daniels, and Johnnie Walker. Unfortunately, I was not one of the chosen ones. However, my friend was – and she managed to sneak me half of each of her samples. Jack Daniels was definitely the worst. But then again, I never liked Jack to begin with. I blame college. [*shudders at a flashback*]

I’m not a fan of whiskey. But even if you’re not, you can’t miss this place! I don’t know a whole lot about whiskey. Okay…I don’t know anything about whiskey, so I feel like this tour did teach me a few things on the “water of life” – such as the angel’s share. It’s the amount of whiskey that has evaporated from the casks during the aging process.

It was a great experience. And totally worth waiting two hours for.