While in Ireland, we each completed a pilgrimage of sorts: to the Jameson Distillery and to the Guinness Storehouse.
The tour highlighted not just the distillation process but also the history of the company.
Cats were employed at the Jameson Distillery...
Here you can see barrels of whiskey aging. Note the deepening color and the evaporation over time - that's the "Angel's Share."
Eye candy.
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We went to the Guinness Storehouse on another day. One of our tour guides appropriately dubbed it "Disneyland for adults." He was completely right.
Floor after floor of Guinness history - interactive exhibits and even a gallery tracing the marketing history over the years.
After the tour, guests are invited up to the "Gravity Bar." While there, you can enjoy the best pint ever while soaking in a beautiful panoramic view of Dublin. The bartender asked what brought us to Ireland, and we told them we were on our honeymoon. Much cheering and excitement was had.
You could see the Wicklow Mountains...
and all the way out to the sea.
Again - more beautiful weather.
A movie was being filmed while we were there... I snapped a quick photo as we left. (Getting back to my childhood roots, I suppose...)
So - the Guinness Storehouse and Jameson Distillery tours? Both good fun and definitely worth the hype if you are a fan of the companies. They were two of our favorite parts of the trip for sure.