Help with a nice whiskey experience

It's my boyfriend's birthday this week and he's a fan of whiskey. I've planned a day of fun things and I want to begin with a whiskey ...thing. Because of everything else planned (and saving for a mortgage) I can only afford so much. I've ruled out a distillery tour as he probably wouldn't value that too much anyway, and was hoping to cut to the chase, really. Many things have been ruled out, and I've landed at perhaps just a visit to The Palace, where I'll select a range for him to taste.

I ruled out the distilleries because I guess this way you get a wider range, and the likes of the Whiskey Reserve and Museum due to the smaller portions. I wanted to know, if any whiskey lovers out there could recommend something better than this? It'll have to be during the day, so it rules out Mulligans in Stoneybatter for example.

Grateful to anybody with a novel idea to make it special.