Overview
Jameson Distillery Midleton started life as a woollen mill. Marcus Lynch built it on the Dungourney River in 1796; it did a spell as a military barracks before James, Daniel and Jeremiah Murphy bought it in 1825 and turned it into a distillery. Their distillery ran until 1975, and the old stone buildings reopened as a visitor centre in 1992. Today the campus east of Cork City is the production home of Jameson, Redbreast, Powers, Midleton Very Rare, the Spot whiskeys, Method and Madness and Knappogue, and it draws around 100,000 visitors a year.
The thing everyone photographs is the copper pot still standing in the yard: at 31,618 gallons, it is the largest ever built.
The tour
The standard guided tour (about 75 minutes, €30) walks you through the restored Old Distillery – including the iron water wheel installed in 1852, which still turns – and a working maturation warehouse where casks age for years, before finishing with a tasting. If you like whiskey and don’t mind a fair bit of walking on old stone floors, it’s a good hour and a quarter; if you don’t drink, the tasting is really the payoff, so weigh that up before you book. Longer premium experiences go deeper into the process and the cooperage, and they sell out first in summer.
One quirk worth knowing: no alcohol is sold in the bar or shop before 10.30am Monday to Saturday, or before 12.30pm on Sunday, so the earliest tours finish before you can buy a bottle. Book ahead online whichever tour you’re after. You don’t need a ticket to use the bar, café or shop.
History and heritage
By the 1830s the distillery was producing around 400,000 proof gallons a year and employing close to 200 people. When the distillery chronicler Alfred Barnard visited in 1886 he recorded output above a million gallons, gas lighting and a Coffey still – unusual in an Irish distillery of the day. The Murphys helped found the Cork Distilleries Company in 1867, and in 1966 three families – John Jameson & Son, John Powers & Son and the Cork Distilleries Company – merged as Irish Distillers. They closed the old plant in July 1975 and built the modern New Midleton Distillery next door; the historic buildings became a museum in 1992. Bottles distilled at the old Midleton distillery back in 1974 now sell for around €35,000 – the most expensive Irish whiskey there is.
Getting there
Midleton is about 25 minutes by car from Cork City, but parking at the distillery isn’t guaranteed, so leave extra time to find a space – or skip the problem and take the train. Irish Rail runs from Cork Kent Station to Midleton in around 25 minutes, and it’s a 15-minute walk from there to the gate. Bus routes 40, 240, 241, 260 and 261 also serve the town; the nearest stop is at the end of Distillery Walk, a short walk from the entrance.
Accessibility
Most of the site is accessible – the modern centre, bar, café and main tour route have ramps and accessible toilets – but the Old Distillery has some uneven stone floors and narrow passages. If mobility is a concern, say so when you book and staff can route the tour through the level sections; contact them in advance for specific needs. Prams are fine on the tour, and there’s a café with an outdoor patio.
Around Midleton and Cork
Cobh, 20 minutes away, has the Titanic Experience and Cobh Heritage Centre, with Fota Wildlife Park on the way. Roches Point marks the mouth of Cork Harbour, and the Ballycotton Cliff Walk, a 7.4km coastal trail, is a short drive east. Back in Cork City, under half an hour off, the English Market and Cork City Gaol are the obvious stops.
If you’re driving, factor in the hunt for a parking space; the train from Cork Kent drops you a fifteen-minute walk away and sidesteps it entirely.