Luckily for me The Dail Bar served food too as by now the effects of the whiskeys I’d previously enjoyed in the Galway Whiskey Trail pubs already visited was beginning to kick in.
A busy spot – especially now being early afternoon.
The combination of loud sports fans in one corner cheering on their teams – possibly the Spurs v Sunderland match that started when visiting Blake’s – and family groups sitting down for lunch in the lounge area in the other corner – left me perched on a stool at the bar from where I happily gazed at the 100 plus whiskeys on show pondering which one to go for.
This time I stuck lucky. Not only was my first choice available – it turned out to be a lovely little number too!
Now it may surprise some readers – but Scottish whisky does not have exclusivity to peated malts – far from it. Ireland has a few peated expressions – Connemara Single Malt is one of them. It has won many awards and is gaining in popularity over many of the more famous Scottish brands for it’s lovely peaty taste.
My choice today however was it’s lesser well known – and now discontinued – peated blended sister – Inishowen.
It had a delightful subtle yet sweet lightly smoked nose – perhaps a little grain influence here. A light floral character on the taste with a well balanced peated bite gave way to a satisfyingly long finish. A very impressive blend indeed. I’d be happy to put this up against some of the more popular Scottish blends – Inishowen would give them a run for their money. Pity it’s so hard to come by these days.
My toasted ham & cheese sandwich also went down a treat as I dallied in the Dail. More customers came in to watch the rugby this time and I fell into discussion with a gentleman who originally hailed from the North but had to leave as he,
‘Knew too much’
whatever that means.
The conversation flowed on from that unusual statement and soon developed into the theory that all the recent terrorist attacks have been orchestrated a combination of the CIA and Mossad.
Ahhh! The old Jewish Conspiracy theory raising it’s ugly head again.
I asked how Jim was getting along with the new Corr’s album – but I don’t think he got the drift. Jim had been the butt of many a joke a few years ago when he started spouting his political views – thankfully he has now rejoined his gorgeous looking sisters in launching a new album. For my money – the old stuff was better.
A bit of banter ensued but despite me trying to refute his wild allegations it proved futile. So I tried a different tack.
Seeing that his team was narrowly losing in the Ulster v Saracens game early in the match – I suggested his boys were going to take a hell of a beating today.
‘Why are you so sure?’ came the reply.
”cos I’ve just rang my agents up North to sort it.’
‘What do you mean?’
At this I tapped my finger to my nose,
‘Ah well, as Devo once sang – I’m a secret agent man. It’s not just bombs we plant, we can fix matches too!’
The gentleman was not impressed and left me to my toast and tea – much to the amusement of the staff who informed me.
‘Once he gets started he normally doesn’t stop.’
I’m pleased to say that my agents followed out their instructions to the full. When I checked the scores a few days later – Saracens had demolished Ulster 37 to 11.
I wonder if there’s a conspiracy in that?
Get yourself down to The Dail – the craic is mighty!
Sláinte,
WestmeathWhiskeyWorld 
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