Jameson Whiskey Tasting – Celebrating St. Patrick’s Day

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St. Patrick’s Day is coming up in 2 weeks! Any plans to celebrate this cultural event?

I was super excited to get invited by Jameson’s brand ambassador to join its whiskey tasting event in Calgary. Although I was not a big whiskey (blame Kev – I cut down a lot of alcohol because he couldn’t drink any), I was delighted to learn about whiskey and its making. After the event, I think I would actually enjoy drinking whiskey on occasions!

Jameson Whiskey Tasting

For those of you who are not familiar with the brand, Jameson is an Irish Whiskey producer that was created in 1780. Today, it is the best selling Irish whiskey in the world.

We started off the event with some sweet, pleasant Jameson Ginger & Lime cocktail – tasted yum!

Jameson, ginger ale and lime – a perfect cocktail

Before tasting the different whiskeys, we learned a little bit about the Jameson heritage and its whiskey making process. It was in fact quite educational for me 🙂 The ambassador showed us samples of the main ingredients that are used to create whiskey – barley and maize.

barley and malted barley

I was amazed to learn that the beer has to be pumped and distilled through 3 gigantic copper pot stills to achieve high alcohol percentage!

miniature of the copper pot stills

After distillation, the spirit is filled into different types of casks – sherry butts, bourbon barrels or pot pipes. Of course, different types of cask give the spirit special flavours.

samples of spirit in sherry casks (right) and bourbon barrels (left)

Alrighty, ready to taste some whiskeys!!

Jameson Original, Select Reserve, Gold Reserve, 18 Years Old Limited Reserve, Green Spot

We tried 5 different whiskeys at the event:

• Jameson Original: light and mellow, with a balance of spiciness, nuttiness and vanilla fragrance
• Select Reserve:  rich, creamy, caramelized flavours, mingled with fruity sweetness and waves of charred wood and spices
• Gold Reserve: complex taste sensation of honey sweetness and spiciness, with a peppery finish
• 18 Years Old Limited Reserve: wonderfully smooth with hints of spicy oak and toffee – this one is my favorite!
• Green Spot: very spicy with fruity flavours of green apple

It was fun to taste and compare the whiskeys. Although I drank only a tiny bit of everything, I got a bit tipsy after one round 😛

I would like to thank Jameson to introduce me to the world of whiskeys…they are dangerously delicious!

If you’re a whiskey drinker, share with me your favorite brand. I am looking forward to trying more in the future!!