In this guide
💡 The Short Version: Teeling and Pearse Lyons distil whiskey on site; Jameson Bow St. does not. Jameson moved production to Midleton, Co. Cork, in 1975, and Bow St. is a visitor experience. Jameson is from €26 for 45 minutes with a tasting of three whiskeys and a cocktail. Teeling is €22 to €55, from 50 minutes, in a working distillery. Pearse Lyons is about an hour in a former church, with a graveyard tour. The Irish Whiskey Museum is €23 for an hour and three tastings, near College Green. Book ahead for Pearse Lyons. Or book a tour: the Teeling Distillery tourad is €22 on GetYourGuide, the same as Teeling’s own price.
The tours compared
Prices are the operators’ own for one adult, except where marked GetYourGuide. All tastings are for over-18s.
| Tour | Where | Length | From | What you drink | Makes whiskey here |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jameson Experience with Tasting | Bow St., Smithfield | 45 minutes | €26 | Three Jameson whiskeys and a cocktail | No |
| Teeling Tasting | Newmarket, Dublin 8 | 50 minutes | €22 | Teeling Small Batch and a cocktail | Yes |
| Teeling Trinity Tasting | Newmarket, Dublin 8 | 50 minutes | €26 | Small Batch, Single Grain and Single Malt | Yes |
| Teeling Distillery Select Tasting | Newmarket, Dublin 8 | 55 minutes | €35 | Four whiskeys, including a peated single malt | Yes |
| Teeling Connoisseur Cask Collection | Newmarket, Dublin 8 | 60 minutes | €55 | Distillery-exclusive whiskeys, in a small group | Yes |
| Pearse Lyons Whiskey Tour & Tasting | James’s Street | About 60 minutes | €22 (GetYourGuide) | Three to five Pearse whiskeys | Yes |
| Irish Whiskey Museum Classic Tour | Near College Green | 1 hour | €23 | Three Irish whiskeys | No |
- Extras at Jameson. A cocktail-making class is €60 (60 minutes), the Secret Whiskey Tasting €40 (45 minutes), a Black Barrel blending class €60 (90 minutes), the Redbreast Tasting €50 (60 minutes) and Whiskey and Chocolate €140 (90 minutes).
- Guinness and Roe & Co. The Guinness Storehouse sells combinations with the Roe & Co Distillery cocktail workshop (€49) and the Open Gate Brewery (€41). See Guinness Storehouse tickets.
- Go City. The Go City Dublin Pass includes Jameson Bow St. and Teeling. Pearse Lyons and the Irish Whiskey Museum are not on its list. See Dublin Pass: is it worth it?.
Jameson Distillery Bow St.
From €26 · 45 minutes · Smithfield · Luas Red Line, Smithfield stop, two minutes’ walk
John Jameson founded the distillery in 1780, and the buildings in Smithfield are the original ones, but the whiskey is now made at Midleton. The Experience with Tasting is a fully guided tour, a comparative tasting of three Jameson whiskeys and a signature cocktail, in English, with audio-guide tours in French and German. The tour runs from 10:00 on weekdays and Saturdays and from 11:45 on Sundays, with the last at 18:00 (18:30 on Fridays and Saturdays). No alcohol is sold in the bar or shop before 10:30 on weekdays or 12:30 on Sundays. Book at jamesonwhiskey.com or on GetYourGuide, where the listingad (7,876 reviews) starts at €31.
The entrance to the Jameson Distillery on Bow Street. Photo: Lingual Friendulum, Wikimedia Commons, CC0.
Teeling Whiskey Distillery
€22 to €55 · 50 to 60 minutes · 13-17 Newmarket, Dublin 8 · closes 18:00, 19:00 on Saturdays
Teeling calls itself the first new distillery in Dublin in 125 years and a working distillery in the middle of the city. Every tour is fully guided with a Teeling ambassador and ends with a tasting. The €22 Teeling Tasting adds a handcrafted seasonal cocktail, with a non-alcoholic option you ask for at reception. The €26 Trinity Tasting is the three-whiskey tour: Small Batch, Single Grain and Single Malt. The distillery is open from 11:00 until 18:00 Monday to Friday, until 19:00 on Saturdays, and until 18:00 on Sundays and bank holidays. Teeling’s listing on GetYourGuidead (1,310 reviews) is €22 from the distillery itself.
Copper pot stills at the Teeling Distillery. Photo: JensLang, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Pearse Lyons Distillery
About 60 minutes · 121-122 James’s Street, Dublin 8 · tours hourly from 11:00, Sundays from 12:00
The distillery is the restored St James’s Church, and the tour includes the graveyard, a short film about the late founder Pearse Lyons, the working distillery floor and a tasting of three to five Pearse whiskeys. The last tour is at 17:00. It is closed 24 to 26 December and 1 January. Children are welcome, free under 10 and €10 from 11 to 17. Pearse Lyons says it often sells out in advance, and walk-ins are not guaranteed a place. It is a five-minute walk from the Guinness Storehouse, and Dublin Bus 13 and 123 from O’Connell Street, D’Olier Street and Dame Street and the G1 and G2 from the Quays stop on James’s Street. The Luas Red Line stop is St James’s. The distillery’s own GetYourGuide listingad (512 reviews) starts at €22.
The tower of St James’s Church, the building of the Pearse Lyons Distillery. Photo: Thomas Fuhrmann, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
The Irish Whiskey Museum
Adult €23 · 1 hour · three tastings · up to 28 people
The Classic Tour is guided, covers the history of Irish whiskey and ends with three tastings, with a soft drink for children and non-drinkers. Student and senior tickets are €21 and a child is €10. Tours run from 10:30 from October to April and from 10:00 from May to September, and the last is at 18:00. McDonnell’s Bar in the museum is open 10:30 to 19:30 on weekdays and 10:30 to 21:30 on Saturdays and Sundays. Any bus to College Green, Dame Street, Nassau Street, D’Olier Street or Westmoreland Street is under five minutes’ walk away. GetYourGuide’s listingad (1,564 reviews) starts at €25, against €23 on the museum’s own site.
Which to choose
- To see whiskey being made: Teeling or Pearse Lyons. Both distil on site.
- For the name: Jameson Bow St., knowing the whiskey is made in Cork.
- For a central hour with no distillery: the Irish Whiskey Museum.
- Lowest price: Teeling’s €22 tour, with a cocktail. Pearse Lyons’ GetYourGuide listing starts at the same €22.
- In one afternoon: Pearse Lyons and the Guinness Storehouse are five minutes apart, and Teeling is in the same district.
What to skip: Jameson’s extras, unless you want the blending or cocktail class. The €26 tour already includes a tasting and a cocktail.
What to book before you go to Dublin has the closed days for every sight. Dublin Pass: is it worth it? counts Jameson and Teeling among the sights the pass covers. St Patrick’s and Christ Church are in the same part of the city as Teeling and Pearse Lyons. Oldest pubs in Dublin and traditional music pubs cover the drink that needs no tour, and Dublin walking tours lists the pub crawls. 3 days in Dublin builds the plan round the bookings. Where to stay in Dublin compares the areas.
Common questions
Is Jameson Bow St. a working distillery?
No. Jameson says whiskey production moved in 1975 to its distillery in Midleton, Co. Cork, and Bow St. is now a visitor experience in the original distillery buildings. Teeling and Pearse Lyons both distil on site in Dublin.
Which Dublin whiskey tour is the cheapest?
Teeling's Tasting tour at €22 for 50 minutes, with a Teeling Small Batch whiskey and a cocktail, is the lowest price on an operator's own page. The Irish Whiskey Museum's Classic Tour is €23, Jameson's Experience with Tasting is from €26, and Teeling's three-whiskey Trinity Tasting is €26.
How long are the Dublin distillery tours?
Jameson Bow St. takes 45 minutes, Teeling 50 to 60 minutes, Pearse Lyons about an hour including the tasting, and the Irish Whiskey Museum one hour.
Do I need to book a Dublin distillery tour?
Booking ahead is wise. Pearse Lyons says it has a limited number of spaces on each tour and often sells out in advance, though walk-ins are taken if a tour has space. Jameson's availability changes seasonally.
Can children go on the tours?
Pearse Lyons takes children, free under 10 and €10 from 11 to 17, with soft drinks at the tasting bar. Jameson sells a non-alcoholic ticket. The Irish Whiskey Museum charges €10 for a child and gives children and non-drinkers a soft drink. Teeling's cocktail tasting has a non-alcoholic option. Tastings are for over-18s.
