After 6 consecutive years (and many more before) of Scottish distillery trips (Islay 2012, Speyside 2013, West Coast 2014, Orkney & central 2015, Islay 2016 & Speyside 2017) it seems like a good time to swap our travels to somewhere closer to home! It’s certainly not the end of the Scottish adventures but going forward, we’d like to put an equal focus in visiting & exploring & drinking the best of Irish Whiskey.
Wednesday 7th November to Saturday 10th November
To secure your place on the trip, we require a non-refundable deposit of €400. The trip is strictly limited to 24 including staff, so early booking is recommended. To book a place feel free to call into the shop, phone us on +35316759744 or email ally@celticwhiskeyshop.com.
Distillery visits will include: Kilbeggan, Tullamore D.E.W, Midleton, Clonakilty, West Cork, Dingle, Walsh & an exclusive Celtic Cask tasting at the Celtic Whiskey Bar & Larder.
We’ve been working very closely with a number of the best Irish distilleries to come with an amazing trip and we are delighted with the final plan. It’s a 4 day, 3 night trip starting on Wednesday 7th November and finishing Saturday 10th November 2018. On day 1 we depart from Dublin, we’ll visit the oldest working distillery at Kilbeggan followed by lunch in the Tullamore Old Bonded Warehouse and then a tour of the New Tullamore distillery. On day 2, we visit both the micro and large distillery at Midleton before getting a pre-opening visit to Clonakilty distillery. Day 3 sees us visit two of the oldest, new distilleries at West Cork and Dingle and a Celtic Cask tasting at the Celtic Whiskey Bar. The trip finishes on day 4 with a tour of Walsh distillery at Royal Oak and then back to Dublin. These four days will be packed with tasting the best these distilleries have to offer including many rare and cask samples.
If we were going to Scotland, I could promise nice weather but I don’t have same influence here just yet. However, we’ll do our best! There is a bit of travel but we will pass through some of the finest scenery in the world whilst eating & drinking (optional) in some excellent restaurants and bars along the way.
The cost of the trip is €850.00 and covers all coach travel, accommodation for 3 nights, dinners (all 3 courses), VIP whisky tastings at 7 distilleries, 2 lunches, 2 packed lunches, 3 breakfasts and onboard coach refreshments (water, whiskey & snacks).
Most rooms at the hotels are twin so if you require single occupancy, there is a surcharge of €120.
It doesn't include: Drinks with dinner, bar bills or travel insurance.
The following is an approximate itinerary and might vary due to a number of circumstances but I would hope the itinerary is accurate. Some restaurants & pack lunches will require pre-ordering but I’ll keep you up to date with this.
Wednesday 7th November 2018
8.30am - The trip will start at Heuston Station, Dublin. The coach will depart from the vicinity of Heuston station Dublin at 8.30am.
(Drive time to Kilbeggan Distillery 1 Hour 15 minutes)
10-12.15pm - A tour of the world’s oldest working distillery followed by a range tasting and some cask samples by a great friend of Celtic Whiskey & one of Irish Whiskey’s most knowledgeable ambassadors, Stephen Magennis.
(Drive time to Tullamore’s Old Bonded Warehouse 12minutes)
12.30-1.45pm - Lunch at the Tullamore D.E.W visitor centre
(Drive time to the new Tullamore Distillery 7 mins)
2-4.30pm - Tullamore Distillery visit with the excellent Kevin Pigott including a VIP distillery tour including bottling, warehouse etc, Private deconstruction whiskey masterclass, Tasting of new Tullamore distillery liquid, Sample from the cask some rare single batch Tullamore Phoenix, and a Single malt tasting (14 and 18) along with other surprise sample.
(Drive time Tullamore Distillery to Midleton 2 hours, 8 mins)
6.45pm - Check in & Stay at the Midleton Park Hotel
8pm - Dinner at Sage Restaurant
Optional drinks after at JJ Coppingers
Thursday 8th November 2018
8-9am - Breakfast in the Midleton Park Hotel
9.45am - Depart Midleton Park Hotel to go to Midleton Distillery
(Drive time to Midleton Distillery 5 minutes)
10-2pm - Midleton Distillery Tour, Tasting & Lunch
Includes a visit to the Micro distillery, Overview of Irish Whiskey in the Irish Whiskey Academy, Site visit to the new distillery, Tasting in the Irish Whiskey Academy followed by lunch in the restaurant. Always a fabulous place to visit!
(Drive time Midleton to Clonakilty 1 hour 6 minutes)
4-5.30pm - Clonakilty Distillery
This might be a pre-opening visit to one of the island’s newest distilleries where we’ll get a tour plus a tasting of some of their previously purchased stock.
(Drive time Clonakilty to West Cork Hotel 32mins)
6pm - Check in & stay at the West Cork Hotel
7.30pm - Dinner at An Chistin Beag
Optional drinks after.
Friday 9th November 2018
8-9am - Breakfast at the West Cork Hotel
9.15am - Depart West Cork Hotel
(Drive time to West Cork Distillery 6 minutes)
9.30-11.30am - West Cork Distillery
Tour & tasting with Ireland’s hardest working distiller, John O’Connell.
(Drive time West Cork Distillery, picking up a packed lunch & refreshment in Killarney, to Dingle Distillery 2 hours 40 minutes)
2.30-4.30pm - Dingle Distillery
Tour and tasting including the 6 different sherry casks that we have ageing there (Manzanilla, Fino, Amontillado, Palo Cortado, Oloroso, Pedro Ximenez) and maybe some other samples.
(Drive time to Killarney 1 hour 10 minutes)
5.45pm - Check in and stay at Eviston House Hotel, Killarney.
7-8pm - Celtic Cask Tasting at the Celtic Whiskey Bar & Larder
Celtic Cask Irish Whiskeys have been awarded the title of Best Independent Bottler on a number of occasions. On these evening we’ll try some of our favourites.
8pm - Dinner at the Celtic Whiskey Bar & Larder
25% off all whiskey ontrade sales that evening in the bar for the group.
Saturday 10th November 2018
9-10am - Breakfast in Eviston House
10.30am - Depart Eviston House
(Drive time Killarney to Cashel 2 hours. Packed lunch on the coach).
Stop for a refreshment in Cashel, venue TBC
(Drive time Cashel to Walsh Distillery 1 hour 10 minutes)
2.30-4.30pm - Walsh Whiskey Distillery Tour & Tasting
VIP tour & tasting with some special samples.
(Drive time to Heuston Station, Dublin 1 hour 25 minutes)
6pm - Arrive at Dublin Heuston Station
