Yurts and Whiskey go Hand in Hand
On a recent whiskey discovery trip to Ireland, we obviously visited some bigger, more established brands but also found our way a little further north and found ourselves in the Boyne Valley. You may have heard of the famed Slane Castle where famous performers have come from all around the world to play in the natural amphitheater but what you may not know is they now have a whiskey, which is produced in the old stables, and it’s delicious.
We first reached out to Slane Irish Whiskey because they sent out a press release about the brand which included some additional information about the family and we noticed they also run a glamping site called Rock Farm across the river where you can stay on the fully functioning farm in an awesome shared house, or better yet, a yurt. We couldn’t help ourselves, we just had to stay in a yurt, so we rented a car and drove up north for a little booze-inspired R&R. The campgrounds were awesome and we even had the pleasure of having a staff member each morning come into the communal kitchen and cook a traditional Irish breakfast using produce primarily sourced from the farm itself. It was a delicious combination of fresh eggs, pork sausage, blood sausage, and bacon; who could ask for a heartier start to the day?
Once we were all set for the day we wandered the nearby town and took in a wonderful nature surrounding us. We eventually ended up at the Slane Whiskey Distillery and started our tour of the facilities, wandering the multi-level old barns and learning all about the amazing history and why they made the move into whiskey production. At the end of the tour, we sat down and the wonderful long table for a tasting flight where we went into more detail about the characteristics and subtle nuances of Slane that make it unique. The triple-casked maturation is so important to a product like Slane Irish Whiskey as the rounded flavor profile it produces is so amazing. They use a blend of virgin oak, some seasoned oak, and most importantly, in my opinion, pre-used sherry casks. This combination creates a unique profile that can be replicated year after year as the master blender does his amazing job of tasting and profiling each eau de vie.
The best part of the entire journey was getting behind the bar with their resident mixologist in one of the most beautiful areas I have been in. Within the distillery itself, the team at Slane has created a beautifully adorned bar area where they host tastings as well as serve delicious cocktails and some local cider. It was a great experience and I mixed up a raspberry variation on the classic Clover Club with a mist of rose water just to finish it off. It was such a great adventure all around and we finished off with a local meat and cheese plate at Slane Castle with a final drink before we went back to our yurt for the evening.
