Bushmills Irish Whiskey - The Brand
Bushmills is the world’s oldest licensed whiskey distillery. King James granted the original license to distill on April 20, 1608. The brand specializes in two styles of whiskey: unpeated Irish Single Malt and Blended Irish Whiskey, with a high proportion of single malt whiskey in the final blend, unique for the Irish whiskey category. The distillery is located in Bushmills in County Antrim, Northern Ireland, on the River Bush, where the mills initially processed the grain to make whiskey. The water from the River Bush is still used to distill and proof down the whiskey. This river is filtered through the volcanic bedrock and flows from the village of Bushmills to the world-famous Giant’s Causeway. Single Malt whiskey forms the backbone for all expressions of Bushmills. All their Single Malt whiskey is triple-distilled in traditional Irish copper pot, and the proprietary design has been the brand’s logo for three centuries. All barley is 100 % sourced from the Island of Ireland, and all Bourbon barrels are sourced from Kelvin Cooperage.
Bushmills 10-Year-Old Single Malt
The Bushmills 10-Year-Old is the gateway expression to the brand’s Single Malt line-up. Unlike the blended expressions, which contain a proportion of lighter grain whiskey distilled from corn or wheat, their Single Malt whiskey is triple distilled in copper pot stills from 100 % Irish malted barley at a single distillery. This style of Irish whiskey changed when the British Crown imposed a tax on malted barley in the mid-1800s, causing most distilleries to switch to corn or to include unmalted barley. Bushmills continues the original process, and their Single Malts are “pure malts” with no peat or smoked malt. The 10-Year-Old expression is matured for a minimum of ten years separately in ex-Bourbon barrels, sourced from the Kelvin Cooperage in Kentucky, and Oloroso Sherry casks, before being blended and bottled at 80 proof (40 % ABV). This product is the favorite of Bushmills Master Blender Helen Mulholland, Ireland’s first female Master Blender.
Bushmills 12-Year-Old Single Malt
The Bushmills 12-Year-Old expression is the newest addition to the single malt lineup and was designed to offer customers a bridge product between the 10 Year-old and 16-Year-Old expressions. This expression is triple distilled from 100 % Irish malted barley and matured for a minimum of 11 years in former sherry casks and bourbon barrels before combing and finishing for 6-9 months in Marsala wine casks, which is a fortified wine from Sicily, a large island south of the Italian Peninsula. This product is bottled at 80 proof (40 % ABV).
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