Bushmills Irish Whiskey Distillery Tour and Tasting
On day 11 our driving tour of Ireland we went to Bushmills, Ireland. We toured the distillery and sampled some good Irish whiskey. Or as my husband says, “Enjoyed the best Irish whiskey”. Touring the Bushmills Distillery was listed high on my husband’s and his friend’s bucket list. They are both connoisseurs of single malt whiskeys and the Bushmills Irish Whiskey is their favorite because it is triple distilled and is smooth and mellow.
Bushmills, Ireland
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| City Center Bushmill, Ireland |
The city of Bushmills is located about 3 miles from the Giant Causeway. It is a quaint town of about 1.300 people. You can roam the streets and find interesting shops. My favorite stop was at the Copper Kettle, a coffee shop and tearoom, located at 61 Main St., they have a nice variety of A range of cooked foods, sandwiches, desserts, and pastries for sit-in or take away.
Bushmills Distillery
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| Bushmills Distillery |
Home to world-famous Bushmills Whiskey. Bushmills is the oldest licensed distillery in the world, founded in 1608. Generations have passed down the ancient distilling tradition.
They produce 6 types of whiskeys:
The Original Bushmills whiskey is made with a recipe that dates back to 1888 it combines single malt whiskey with a lighter grant whiskey. This is my husband’s favorite, “best Irish whiskey”.
Bushmills Black Bush combines malt whiskey with lighter grain whiskey and is aged in Oloroso Sherry and Bourbon Casks. Bushmills Black Bush is rich with fruity highlights and is a very smooth whiskey.
Bushmills Red Bush is aged in new bourbon barrels, it is incredibly smooth due to being triple distilled.
Bushmills offers three more single malt Irish whiskeys, those distilled10 years, 16 years, or 21 years. The 10-year single malt Irish whiskey is distilled in sherry casts and bourbon-seasoned casks which gives it honey, vanilla, and milk chocolate aroma.
The 16-year single malt whiskey is aged for 15 years in Oloroso Sherry and bourbon seasoned casts and then another 9 months in port wine pipes, which are unique barrels used to make port wine.
The 21-year single malt Irish whiskey is aged for at least 19 years in Oloroso Sherry and bourbon seasoned casts and then another 2 years in Madeira casts until mature.
Tour highlights included seeing many types of whiskey casts and learning about the ancient process which has been passed down for generations for making some of the world’s best Irish whiskey.
The name Bushmills comes from the Bush River which supplies the water for whiskey and the mill for barley. Tours including a tasting room are available year-round, be sure and visit their website for tour hours, Bushmills Distillery.
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| Bushmill Whiskey in casts |
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| Tasting Room Bushmill Distillery Tour, David (seated) and Graham. |
Dunluce Castle is just outside Bushmills on the coast. It is the ruins of a medieval castle.
The castle is surrounded by extremely steep drops on either side, Making it a very defensible location. it was used by early Christians and Vikings. Even before that time, this location was the site of an early Irish fort.
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| Dunluce Castle In-land Side of Castle |
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| Dunluce Castle as seen from the Irish Sea |
