Dublin Whiskey Tastings: What Makes a Great Tasting Experience

When I planned my trip to Ireland, Cork and Copper didn't exist. Not even as an idea. By the time I arrived in Dublin, Cork and Copper was very real, and I was about to spend a week firmly planted on Jerome's side of the business. It felt a little like our own version of Trading Spaces.

I'm the wine gal, Jerome is the whiskey guy. But there I was in Dublin, with whiskey tastings on the calendar and a whole lot more interest in what was in my glass than I probably would have had when I originally planned the trip. The timing was almost serendipitous.

I had always planned to make Irish whiskey part of my time in Dublin. But now I wasn't approaching it only as a traveler who wanted to experience something Ireland is known for. I was approaching it as the co-founder of a business partially focused on whiskey, and Dublin gave me plenty of opportunities to immerse myself in all things whiskey.

Over the course of the week, I had three very different whiskey experiences: Jameson Bow St. with Robyn, a tasting with Angel at the Whiskey Reserve, and a completely unplanned tasting with Agustin at the Temple Bar Whiskey Bar.

Three different settings. Three very different experiences. And by the end of the week, I realized I had learned quite a bit about whiskey, but also about the people who make learning about it fun.

Starting at Jameson

I didn't waste much time getting started. I landed in Dublin from Dubrovnik around 3:30 in the afternoon and had a 5:45 reservation at Jameson Bow St.

Jameson was probably the most polished of my three experiences, which isn't surprising. This is one of the most recognizable names in Irish whiskey, and the experience is designed to take you through its history, how it's made and, of course, how it tastes.

Our guide, Robyn, was fantastic. What struck me most wasn't necessarily one particular fact I learned about Jameson. It was how she shared the information.

She gave us enough information to understand what we were tasting without making it feel like we needed to take notes. And I started thinking about something Jerome and I talk about quite a bit with Cork and Copper: there's a big difference between knowing a lot about something and knowing how to share what you know.

Wine and whiskey can both become intimidating very quickly. Start throwing around production terms, regions, cask types, grape varieties or tasting terminology, and it's pretty easy to lose someone who simply showed up because they wanted to drink something good and maybe learn a little along the way.

Robyn never made it feel like that. I left Jameson knowing more than I did when I walked in. More importantly, I wanted to know more.

Sitting Down With Angel

Later in the week came a completely different kind of experience. I had booked a whiskey tasting at the Whiskey Reserve, where Angel would be my guide.

This wasn't a tour or a big brand experience. I was there to sit down, taste whiskey and go through a proper tasting experience.

What am I smelling? Where is that flavor coming from? What did the cask contribute?

Those questions were answered with every taste.

These are the same questions I ask when I'm tasting wine, and it was interesting to realize how much of that process translates to whiskey. The details are obviously different. Grapes become grains. Vineyards become distilleries. Oak plays a very different role. And distillation adds an entirely different step to the equation. But tasting is still tasting.

We talked about what was in the glass instead of simply being told what I was supposed to taste. That's something I've learned through WSET that I think will always stick with me. There is a structure to tasting, and there are reasons certain aromas and flavors show up, but at the end of the day, it's still your glass.

You don't need to find the exact tasting note someone else found to enjoy it. And you definitely don't need to know everything before you're allowed to ask questions.

That's exactly how we want people to feel at a Cork and Copper tasting: curious, not intimidated.

The Tasting I Never Booked

And then there was Agustin. This one wasn't on my itinerary at all.

I was at the whiskey bar attached to The Temple Bar when I started talking with Agustin. He realized pretty quickly that I was interested in whiskey, that I was trying to learn more about it, and that Cork and Copper had given me a whole new reason to be curious.

One conversation led to another, and then bottles started appearing. Suddenly, I was having another whiskey tasting, except this one had no reservation, no formal setup and no agenda.

Agustin would pour something he thought I should try. We'd talk about it. That would lead to another whiskey, another question and another story. And here's where it gets interesting: Agustin is a sommelier who is now learning whiskey because he recognizes the similarities in the craft. Imagine that!

The wine gal learning whiskey from the sommelier learning whiskey. Apparently, I wasn't the only one doing a little Trading Spaces in Dublin.

Of all three experiences, this may have been the one that reminded me most why I love travel. I can plan with the best of them. Flights, hotels, tours, restaurants. I usually have a pretty good idea of what I want to see and do before I ever arrive.

But some of my favorite travel memories are the ones I couldn't have booked if I tried. You sit down somewhere, you start talking to someone, and suddenly you're having an experience you didn't know you were looking for.

Somewhere Along the Way, I Started Paying Attention Differently

By this point in the week, I realized something else had changed. I wasn't only paying attention to the whiskey anymore. I was paying attention to the tasting itself.

Robyn, Angel and Agustin had completely different approaches, and they were working in completely different environments. One was guiding a polished experience for one of the biggest whiskey brands in the world. One was sitting across from me for an intentional tasting. And one simply recognized someone who was curious and started pulling bottles off the shelf.

But all three had something in common: they made me want to keep learning.

Wine Gal Meets Whiskey

I don't think Dublin converted me from wine to whiskey. Let's not get carried away. I'm still the wine gal at Cork and Copper, and Jerome can happily keep his title as the whiskey guy.

But I'm starting to understand his side a little better. And I'm realizing how much crossover there really is between the two worlds. The production may be different, but so much of what fascinates me about wine exists in whiskey too.

There's history, place and craftsmanship. There are decisions made during production that completely change what eventually ends up in your glass. And then there's oak. Lots of it! There are seemingly endless things to learn, which may be my favorite part.

Bringing a Little Dublin Home

I went to Dublin expecting to drink Irish whiskey, and I came home understanding it a little better.

But I also came home thinking more about Cork and Copper. Not because I spent the week studying how other people run tastings or taking notes about things we should copy. I didn't, but I just started noticing what made me enjoy an experience.

When Jerome and I started designing the Cork and Copper experience, one of our guiding principles was that people should leave having learned something, but they should never feel like they're sitting in a classroom.

We want them to ask questions and discover something they didn't expect to like. We want someone who thinks they "don't like whiskey" or "don't know anything about wine" to feel completely comfortable saying exactly that.

And we want the conversation around the glass to be every bit as interesting as what's inside it. That may have been the biggest lesson Dublin gave me. A great bottle matters, but the person on the other side of the glass can completely change the experience.

So, yes, the wine gal went to Ireland and spent a week drinking whiskey, and the timing couldn't have been better.

And I suspect Jerome is going to be hearing, "Well, when I was in Dublin..." for quite some time.

What Dublin Taught Me About a Great Whiskey Tasting