Until the last 30 years or so with the rise of the Celtic Tiger economy, Ireland’s greatest export had always been its people. Irish emigration helped populate the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia and many other nations. The Emerald Isle’s second most successful export is Irish whiskey. On this tour we shall visit three renowned distilleries:

Irish whiskey was one of the earliest distilled drinks in Europe, with references and records dating to the 12th century. After acquiring the knowledge of perfume distillation in southern Europe, Irish monks brought the technique back to Ireland from travels to southern Europe around 1000 AD. And being good Irish monks, they experimented.

The monks modified this technique to obtain a drinkable spirit. Voila, the birth of whiskey! The oldest known written record of whiskey comes from Ireland in 1405 in the Annals of Clonmacnoise, where it was written that the head of a clan died after “taking a surfeit of aqua vitae” at Christmas. While the chief’s death was indeed tragic it should be noted (for those who may care) this predates production of Scotch whisky by nearly one hundred years.

The native Irish words for whiskey are “uisce beatha”, meaning “the water of life”. Pure poetry!Currently Ireland has 32 distilleries in operation. On this tour we’ll visit three of the best:

• Sliabh Liag – a small Donegal distiller of the highly acclaimed “Silkie”
• Bushmills – the Grandaddy of Northern Ireland whiskey… “Since 1608”
• John Jameson & Son – Ireland’s powerhouse global brand, founded 1780 at Dublin’s Bow Street