Despite its name and as ancient as it is, 'Old Bushmills' is not just an old distillery. It's alive, proud of its 400 year heritage and looking towards the future.

Select a date and learn about some of the key dates in the history of our legendary distillery.

1608 Original Grant to Distil

King James I grants Sir Thomas Phillips a royal licence to distil ‘uisce beatha’, the gaelic for 'water of life', or whiskey as we know it today, in 'the territory of the Rowte' in Co. Antrim. This is the first official recorded evidence of whiskey-making in the area that was to become Bushmills.

1743 In the hands of smugglers

The first recorded reference to the Old Bushmills Distillery is in 1743. At the time it was "in the hands of smugglers", according to Victorian whisky journalist Alfred Barnard.

1784 Officially registered

The Old Bushmills Distillery is officially registered as a company and the pot still becomes its trade mark.

1850 A new tax

A new tax on malted barley means many Irish distillers change the recipe for their whiskey, to use both malt and un-malted barley in the mid 1850s. But Bushmills stays true to the grain, confident that using 100% malted barley makes for a superior whiskey.

1885 The distillery burns

The distillery burns to the ground. But having already earned world-wide fame and won numerous prizes at international spirits competitions, Bushmills whiskey is in such high demand that the distillery is rapidly rebuilt and soon back in full production.

1890 The S.S. Bushmills

S.S. Bushmills, the distillery's own steamship, makes its maiden voyage across the Atlantic to deliver Bushmills whiskey to America. It calls at Philadelphia and New York before heading on to Singapore, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Yokohama.

1933 The end of Prohibition

Throughout US Prohibition Bushmills is one of the few distilleries to continue production. In fact, Samuel Wilson Boyd buys the distillery in 1923 and gears up for expansion. With the repeal of US Prohibition, 10 years later, Bushmills has ample whiskey ready as reportedly, the biggest shipment ever to leave an Irish port sets sail for Chicago.

1942 World War II

Distilling has to stop during World War II, but Bushmills stays busy: the distillery is partly converted to accommodate American and other Allied forces servicemen.

2008 400 years of heritage

Bushmills toasts 400 years of local distilling heritage with a special, limited edition Irish whiskey, Bushmills 1608.

2009 Ireland's oldest working distillery

A unique whiskey-making tradition lives on at Ireland's oldest working distillery. Taste it in every drop of our whiskey.