Whiskey Club NI RECONNECT event
Well last weekend was a bit magical! A few of you might have spotted that I was putting together a special greetings card order recently for a top secret event; an invite only event that I’m delighted to say I had an invite to. Big thank you to NI Explorer for that!
RECONNECT was created by Whiskey Club NI to encourage us to disconnect from digital connectivity, to just enjoy the moment and to reconnect to the things that really make life special… with the opportunity to sample Redbreast Irish Whiskey along the way (a little clue as to why my illustration tied in well with the day!).
Everything was a complete surprise, but what we did know was that we would be meeting our brilliant guide for the day, Joe Magowan, at The National in Belfast and heading onwards to somewhere unknown. Very exciting!
We stopped off at Oxford Island Nature Reserve on Lough Neagh first. For anyone unfamiliar with the geography here, Lough Neagh is Ireland’s largest expanse of fresh water and it was quite the spot for our first whiskey tasting of the day! We took in our surroundings at the edge of the Lough with a Redbreast 12. It has a rich, creamy Christmas cake character and it won the World Whiskey Trophy at the International Wine and Spirits Competition, scoring an incredible 98/100 points!
This photograph from Dish You Were Here sums up the atmosphere at the Lough beautifully.
We then set off on the bus for our top secret final destination of the day, passing the time with conversations and a gourmet packed lunch from Yellow Door Deli. After a while it became clear that we were heading in the direction of County Fermanagh. Then following a final drive down a lovely country lane, we arrived at the beautiful Blessingbourne Estate.
We were immediately made so welcome by Colleen and Nick, the owners (and Inka the Labrador too, who spent most of the day with us I’m happy to say). We all had a little chat and listened to stories about the Estate over some hot drinks, treats and heat from the wood burner.
But before we got too settled we were divided into small teams, given a trail map and sent off on a treasure hunt around the lake and woods in search of three little wooden Redbreast robin tags.
The location was beautiful and just when I thought things couldn’t get any better, we stumbled upon two stunning owls from World of Owls; Bowie the Barn Owl and Harley the Eurasion Eagle Owl. I was absolutely blown away by how beautiful they were. They really need to be seen in real life to be fully appreciated. And the excitement didn’t stop there! We all had the opportunity to hold them while enjoying our second whiskey of the day, a Redbreast 15 year old. Joe explained that it was once a special edition, but it was so loved that it’s now a permanent member of the Redbreast family.
After the walk we made our way back into the Blessingbourne house, took our shoes off and cosied in around the fire, with more interesting stories from Nick and Colleen over a Redbreast Old Fashioned. It was my favourite drink of the day by far; absolutely delicious.
For anyone else who loves an old fashioned and fancies making one at home…
Pour 50ml of Redbreast 12 over ice.
Add 2 dashes of Angostura bitters, 2 dashes of orange bitters and a bar spoon of maple syrup.
Stir well and strain over ice into a rocks glass.
Garnish with orange peel and a maraschino cherry.
Before dinner we were a given a personal tour of parts of the house by Colleen, which was really interesting and we felt very at home walking around in our socks with a whiskey I must say. As we were seated for dinner, a glass of Redbreast Lustau was poured for us all. Joe explained that this whiskey highlights the sherried character that Redbreast is known for. It’s aged for 9-11 years in American ex-bourbon and Oloroso sherry casks and then finished for a year in hand selected first fill oloroso casks from Bodegas Lustau. This was followed by a lovely beef stew, with mash and vegetables. Then we had meringue, fruit and cream for dessert.
After dinner, the evening was brought to a close with more stories, the oldest current Redbreast expression, Redbreast 21 ( I may have gifted my last two whiskeys to Andrew from Big Daddy Slims. He was delighted he sat next to me!) and a bag of Whiskey Club NI goodies to take home. This was what the top secret greetings card order was for.
Photograph by Gary Farquhar
It’s safe to say we were absolutely spoilt. It doesn’t get much better than nature, exploring, walking, animals, a cosy home, a lovely drink, delicious food, storytelling and great company. I hadn’t met most of the other guests before and it was lovely to get to know them! Just in case you’re intrigued by who else was there…
Thank you so much to Joe and Whiskey Club NI for all their hard work. Thank you also to Lesley Maltman, Colleen and Nick for making us feel so at home and for the effort it must have taken for them to prepare for us and have us visit.
If you would like to find out more about the day, check out this beautiful video from Whiskey Club NI. It sums up the day perfectly.