Day 4 - The Black River in Youghal & Jamesons Middleton Still

 This is the castle up river from Youghal that was ransacked by the Cromwells in the 17th Century.  Per the boat captain, the Cromwells were so bloody that even if you surrendered, they might still kill the whole lot of you anyway so between that & pride, most would prefer to stand & fight though the prospect of winning wasn't likely.

About Tony our captain & his boat "The Mauve", Tony is a fisherman by trade, particularly shrimp.  He informed us though that due to over fishing, the trade has been somewhat dried up.  The boat is a small fishing trowler.  We stood only a few inches above the water.  It did rain on us half way through the tour.  We all just srcunched in under the over hang behind the captains cabin & kept going.

This is the bay from the mouth of the river.  In about 700 A.D. the mouth was further east but due to a Tsunami at the bay, the course of the river was moved west (& over a mountain at that).

One of the "retired trucks at Jamesons.  We learned all about the barley, malting, the water (how important the water is to the overall whisky) & more.

The original stack from the early days still in the foregraound with the current stack in the background.  Of course onece the tour was over, we all received a free shot of Jamesons at the bar.  I also participated in the whisky sampling were Jamesons was compared to a 12 year Scotch & American Whiskey (Not my favorite of the American brands either).  I can't remember the Scotch (it wasn't bad either) but I knew the American was Jack Daniels the minute I sniffed it.  Ugh!  3 cheers to Jamesons for triple distilling!!! After sampling was over, I received a diploma for Jamesons for completing the taste testing!

After Jamesons, we made our way back to Dongarvven & ate at a Chinese resteraunt on the bay.  The view was great but not the food.

Above is a piece of the huge rainbow stretching out over the Atlantic Ocean.  This was taken out in front of the B&B were we are staying.

TTFN - Rita