#BottleYourOwn Whiskey at The Jameson Experience Midleton

If you follow The Life of Stuff on our social accounts you’d have seen some of these photos (click to zoom) and know that last Monday (April 15th) ‘Bevvy of the Week‘ writer, Patrick and I were at The Jameson Experience in Midleton, Cork.

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We were invited to the Launch of the Jameson ‘Bottle Your Own‘ experience and as well as getting to meet the makers behind the experience we were also advised that we’d get to bottle our own bottle of the good stuff! So with petrol in the car, blue skies ahead and minus my gorgeous little baba (yes there were tears, from me, as we handed him over to the best babysitter ever, my sister for a few hours) Patrick and I set off on the M7 to Cork for the first mini road trip in ages.

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So what is Bottle Your Own and how does it work?

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Well it’s a simple but very effective concept developed by Jameson in response to the demand from whiskey loving visitors to The Jameson Experience both in Dublin and in Midleton, Cork.

How it works is quite simple, but very effective. You start by selecting a 700ml empty bottle from the Bottle Your Own station cupboard. You place it under the tap which is hooked up to the Jameson Select Reserve Cask Strength Black Barrel. Once the bottle is full … don’t worry the tap is set to perfection and won’t overflow or more importantly leave you lacking! … you fit on a cork and take it to the writing desk part of the station.

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Here you lay the bottle on its side, and taking a specially designed label you personalise the label with your name, the date, the number of the cask, the bottle number and the alcohol strength. After that you carefully place the label on the bottle along with a special seal. Then you pop the bottle into a presentation box and finally you log your bottle in the Jameson Select Reserve Cask Strength Black Barrel Ledger where it will remain until the end of time … part of Jameson’s history forever!

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Patrick and I loved the experience and to be two of the first to Bottle Your Own in Midleton, home to The Jameson Experience and the only working Jameson Distillery in the world was a real buzz. We both signed the ledger and made a special note that the whiskey will go to Smith when he turns 18. We didn’t advise which bottle because there’s a 99% chance that one will be found in pristine condition in its presentation box but empty before then! 18 years is a long time!

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On the day, the Irish Distillers Pernod Ricard hosts and the staff at the distillery were welcoming and informative. We met and chatted with Brian Nation, Master Distiller of Irish Distillers Pernod Ricard who was the first to ‘Bottle Your Own’ and Tommy Keane, General Manager of the Midleton Distilleries who was second. Brian had this to say

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Following 25 years of consecutive growth, Jameson is the number one Irish whiskey in the world. More recently the thirst among super-premium whiskey drinkers for an authentic whiskey experience beyond the liquid has continued to grow, be it an in-depth distillery tour or a one-to-one tasting with a master distiller. Jameson welcomes whiskey fans to become a part of whiskey heritage at the new hand-fill facilities at the Jameson Experience in Midleton, Co Cork.” Brian Nation, Master Distiller, Irish Distillers Pernod Ricard

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We also chatted with journalist and whiskey enthusiast Bill Linnane who was charming (check out the credited photos included in this post) and funny – have a read of his article featuring Jameson here.

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After the launch it was coffee and cake in the Malt House Restaurant and then on to experience The Jameson Experience Whiskey Tour … keep an eye out for that review on the blog … coming soon.

Launched in Dublin a few weeks ago, you can now ‘Bottle Your Own’ in both Dublin and Cork. The experience costs €100 and includes a 700ml bottle of Jameson Select Reserve Cask Strength Black Barrel.

This is a rich pot still whiskey blended with a small batch grain whiskey and matured in a combination of sherry casks and American oak barrels. The whiskey is then re-casked into a flame-charred black barrel ready for a consumer to bottle his or her own.’

An ideal gift to yourself or for a loved one. I like the former option.

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Further Reading: Bevvy of the Week – Jameson Caskmates

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