Bushmill's™ Original Whiskey

This is the whiskey that some people call 'ordinary' Bushmills™... until they try it. As anyone in Bushmills will tell you, we only make two kinds of whiskey here: Extraordinary whiskey, and even more extraordinary whiskey.

Some people also call it 'gentle giant' because it is both "approachable and bigger than you expect". Actually we're happy for you to call it anything you like (well, anything but 'ordinary') as long as you enjoy it.

Our job is simply to make sure it tastes as good as it can.

And we do that by blending our triple-distilled malt whiskey with a lighter Irish grain whiskey. Experts say it has "a sweet honeyed taste" and the "Bushmills signature smoothness".

Why not have a wee sip, and see what you think?

Bushmill's™ Black Bush Whiskey

Well, this is the one that gets everyone talking ...

With an intriging flavour and a name to match, it is certainly a remarkable whiskey and we're asked many questions about it: Where does it get its taste from? Is it a blend or a malt? And how about that name?

So for the sake of everybody's peace of mind, we've decided to tell some of our secrets:

Black Bush is our special blend. It's made almost entirely of malt whiskey and matured in former Sherry casks for a richer taste, blended with aged Irish single grain whiskey for a sweet soft touch.

All you really need to know though is what it tastes like. We can describe it, but words don't come close to the real thing, so try it for yourself.

For many people, it's close to the perfect whiskey, full of flavour with deep, spicy Christmas cake notes, perfect to enjoy and to share.

As for the story behind it's anme, we'll let you make up your own legend about that.

Bushmill's™ Malt 10yr Whiskey

Distilled three times from 100% malted barley, it is matured for a minimum of 10 years mainly in selected American oak casks - a gentle maturation which lends soft vanilla notes to the whiskey.

It's beautifully rounded with a distinct honeyed sweetness (Colum, our Master Distiller, says he tastes milk chocolate) and a rich warming character.

It's as smooth as it gets.

For the tecchies amongst you, we could say it's the best example of our Distillery character. For others we'll just say that it's the product that best describes the common traits initing all whiskeys in the Bushmills family.

And there's a simple reason for it. It's literally the lifeblood of the family, the secret at the heart of all our whiskeys. Ask our master brewer Helen for more information.

Bushmill's™ Malt 16yr Whiskey

Well, on paper, this one's simple: Bushmills™ Malt Whiskey matured for 16 years in oak casks.

But this would be too short and simple a story (and maybe not as interesting a whiskey). So we've added a few twists to make sure we keep your taste buds tingling.

If you want to understand how we make our older malt whiskeys, you can start here at Bushmills and speak to Helen or Darryl, who oversee blending and maturation.

From there, they will send you straight to Spain, the portugal. That is where the coopers make some pretty special casks for us and season them with fortified wine, which will lend extra layers of flavour to our whiskeys.

Bushmills Malt 16 yo is aged for 16 years in a combination of American oak casks (typically lending vanilla notes to the whiskey) and Spanish Oloroso Sherry casks (contributing ricj fruit and nuts).

It is then 'finished' (that is, transfered to a different cask type for the last period of maturation) in old port casks for several months. These bring sweet berry notes and a hint of ruby redness to the final whiskey.

Bushmill's™ Malt 21yr Whiskey

Bushmills Malt 21 yo is aged for 19 years in a combination of American oak casks and Spanish Oloroso Sherry casks, then transfered to old Madeira drums (that's the typical name for these large Madeira casks) for the final two years of its maturation.

Colum, our Mater Distiller, gets quite lyrical about this one, finding dark chocolate, nearly burnt toffee and even a hint of mint.