Dublin: Jameson Distillery

This is Smithy the Cat. Smithy may look alive and well in this photo but actually he is very much dead. Like so many other animals in the UK (United taxidermist Kingdom) who were adored in their living years, Smithy was stuffed for posterity. He lived and worked in Jameson's Distillery. His title was Chief-Mouse-Catcher and he did an extra-ordinary job catching around 20 mice a day.

Jez was not able to stand up straight without the help of these barrels as he had not yet sobered up from our trip to the Guinness Brewery just before.

However, that did not stop him from graduating from the elite school of Irish Whiskey Tasting at Jamesons distillery*.


Here we see Jez receiving his doctorate in Irish Whiskey Tasting. In his wake, the other students can be seen weeping into their Irish coffees as their immature palettes had failed to discern the difference between Irish Whiskey and various scotches and bourbons.

* Note that the Irish spell Whiskey with an 'e' just to be sure, to be sure.