After a day of gripping (read "tedious") research at the National Library of Ireland, I gratefully connected in the evening for a few drinks with my Irish Whiskey Society friends David, Leo and Leo's lovely wife Joyce at Bowe's on Fleet Street.

Bowe's is an excellent little pub with a whiskey/whisky menu featuring more than 100 Irish, Scotch, American and other offerings ranging in price from 5 to 12 Euros per glass. It's great to be able to glance at the menu or at the bottles arrayed in line on a brass rail above the bar and say, "Hmmm, what do I feel like having now?"



And that we did several times. I started with a Paddy, then tried the Tyrconnell Port Finish, the Tyrconnell 15, and the Powers 12, then finished the evening with a Green Spot.  Paddy is friendly and familiar. The Tyrconnell Port Finish has a nice complexity and an interesting finish. It's one of a trio of special finish Tyrconnells, the others being Sherry and Madeira which I have yet to sample. The Tyrconnell 15 is lovely and sets the stage for acquiring its 17-year-old sibling strongly recommended by David and Leo. The Powers 12 is very much a step up from the standard Powers and I'm looking forward to getting it in the States this year. And it's just hard to go wrong with Green Spot.

The four of us talked a bit about IWS' success, growth and plans to date, Leo's impressive (between about 350 and 600 bottles depending on how you count) whiskey/whisky collection, and this, that and the other thing. A fun night out with very nice folks.

Thursday evening is the January IWS tasting at the Brooks Hotel featuring Scotch from the northern islands.  Will give a report with pix after.