Tasting Notes
Aroma: Rich fruitcake aroma and intense sherry developing into dried fruit and zesty marmalade.
Taste: Soft as silk, it almost floats on your tongue to the back of the mouth, where it rests as a slightly oaky sherry sweetness.
Finish: Medium length smooth sweetness with a spicy grainy aftertaste.
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This is a recipe unique from Bushmills and really is one of the secrets of Irish whiskey. Made from a blend of 80% single malt which has been matured in Oloroso sherry casks and American bourbon barrels for between 8 to 10 years and up to 18 years, before being blended with a sweet grain whiskey specially reserved and produced in Midleton which has been aged for 4 to 5 years in Caribbean rum casks. As with most Irish whiskey, it is unpeated and triple distilled for a less smokey, smoother flavour.
A winner of numerous awards, including most recently the top prize in the world whiskey awards and a gold medal in the San Francisco spirit awards in 2011 and 2014. This is a uniquely Irish whiskey and world class blend that is simply one of the finest on the planet in this price range. Must be tried to be believed. -
Jim Murray’s Whisky Bible 2018: Best Irish Blended Whiskey – 95 Points
San Francisco World Spirits Competition: Gold Medal 2014, 2015
International Wine and Spirit Awards: Gold Outstanding 2013
Irish Whiskey Masters: Master (highest award) 2013 -
The Bushmills distillery is set in the idyllic surroundings of the North Antrim Coast, considered an area of outstanding beauty and with the UNESCO world heritage sight of the the Giants Causeway just a short distance away from the distillery. For those interested in Game of Thrones, many of the scenes were shot around this area and there are multiple tours available which will take you around the various locations.The Bushmills area is arguably the oldest site of whiskey manufacture in the world, with reports of “aqua vitae” being given to troops before battle in 1276, and references to its distillation during the reign of Henry I in the 12th century. Even thought these stories are probably more a result of legend becoming fact, rather than the other way around, the Bushmill’s claim to be the oldest site of whiskey distilling is very strong.The Bushmills distillery itself is one of Ireland’s oldest, and the original license to distil is the oldest official record of whiskey making in the world, having been granted in 1608. In reality this license meant very little, but it does tell us that this area was so renowned for whiskey making that the English appointed Lord Deputy of Ireland wanted to claim the rights for himself. English rule of law in Ireland meant very little outside the Dublin in the 16th and 17th centuries and no distillery was registered at Bushmills until 1784, but this doesn’t necessarily mean that there was no distillery there. This would still make it the oldest distillery in Ireland if it had survived, but the original buildings were destroyed by fire in 1885 and the buildings as we see them today were subsequently erected.
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Producer Bushmills Distillery Style Blend of Single Malt and Grain Whiskeys Age No Age Statement Volume 70CL ABV 40%