First off, the fact that I pitched this story to so many travel publications and no one picked it up is nothing short of appalling. Like, who DOESN’T want to hear about two back to back whiskey tastings that are featured in a new national whiskey handbook. Well, those publications missed out because I’m sharing everything here.

This is going to be part one because I visited two different distilleries on the same day and I know most people don’t want to read very long posts. No judgment! I’m here to serve (you content that I want to share).

First, what is the Irish Whiskey 360 passport? It’s a booklet that has 24 major whiskey distilleries all around the country of Ireland that will teach you something very specific about Irish whiskey traditions and flavors. You also get a fun stamp when you’ve completed one of their tours and tastings. I’ll tell you how much this experience cost at the end of the newsletter.

I want to start with my favorite distillery of the two: Roe & Co distillery.

First off, it’s important to know that both of the distilleries I visited are:

In Dublin
Less than a 7 minute walk from each other
Right next to the massive enterprise that is Jameson’s headquarter

Roe & Co is a pretty new distillery (I think it was opened in 2019 and all operations got put on pause because of the pandemic). Out of all the tastings and tours I did in Dublin, Roe & Co is my favorite because it’s the perfect combination of old world, traditional Irish whiskey and millennial/Gen Z aesthetics and interactiveness. What do I mean by aesthetics? Look at this tasting room. So pretty, so eye-catching.

Our tour guide walked us through the distillery and the history of how their signature whiskey came to be. Fun fact: did you know that traditional Irish whiskey has a 3 part distillation process? Many other countries only distill their whiskey twice because it’s cheaper and it’s faster. Adding the third round of distilling is what gives traditional Irish whiskey its smooth finish. If you want to learn more about distilling, I STRONGLY recommend that you watch Moonshiners on Discovery+. It’s a hilarious show that teaches the basics of the distilling process but with a backwoods flair for the dramatics.

ANYWAY, Roe & Co’s signature whiskey is called the Roe & Co 106. Why is it called the 106? Because that’s the number of whiskey formulas they had to make before finding their perfect blend. Extra fun fact, remember that wall of whiskey in the picture above? Those are all the test blends that were made in order to get to the 106 (they made 4 more blends after the 106 just to make sure…I think). The bright bottle in the center under the greenish one is the 106.

not my picture but this is what the bottle looks like close up

Full disclosure, I don’t like whiskey, but after visiting Dublin there are two kinds of whiskeys that I love enough to share with you all and one of them is the 106. If you’re used to gross whiskeys that punch you in the back of the throat and make your eyes water after you drink, this is a totally different experience. The 106 is much smoother and you can kind of feel it tingle just underneath your ears. I definitely got the vanilla notes and a little bit of caramel at the end but PLEASE don’t think that this whiskey is sweeter than others. It’s still a whiskey, after all.

Roe & Co’s tours also include a cocktail making class that elaborates on the 5 core flavors: sweet, sour, bitter, salty, and umami. My group and I, which consisted of a father and his two adult children, got to make our own cocktails that focused on one of the 5 core flavors and use the 106 in the drink. PLUS you get an extra free cocktail at the end of your tour!

our cocktail making class was getting settled in!

After the tour I stayed at the bar, tried to flirt with the bartender who eventually told me he was gay, and had one of their signature drinks…that I do not remember the name of. Their bar menu is also based off of the tour that we took so all the drinks are organized by the 5 core flavors and other tangential characteristics which was super helpful in picking a drink from their well-crafted and extensive menu. That being said, I remember that my drink was sour and had a lemon sorbet in the center.

obviously not the lemon sorbet drink but it was full of umami and I felt so grown up drinking this mystery

Now you might be wondering, Shayna…how much did all of this cost?

25 euros (not including the extra drink I got for myself at the bar). That’s about $26.80.

I’ll be posting more about my recent travels and adventures soon!

For the Inner Circle peps, I’ll be sending out a quick update on where I’m traveling to next in the upcoming months and asking for suggestions on what you want to see/know more about from those countries :)

Heart To Arts

Irish Whiskey 360, my new favorite passport…