How Bushmills Irish Whiskey Is Tailored to Your Tastes

Sharp & Bushmills

While their ingredients differ, a made-to-measure suit and a bottle of whiskey have more in common than you might think. For one thing, a beautiful custom suit and a fine whiskey are both the product of hundreds of years of tradition and inno- vation, with each generation of tailors and distillers passing on their know-how to the next. For another, both are crafted by hand, using traditional tools and ingredients to create something unique. In the case of Bushmills Irish Whiskey, that means local barley and spring water — not fine merino wool and silk — but the results are equally impressive.

Natasha Espinoza, Custom Suit Clothier at Toronto’s GotStyle boutique.

“They both cater to someone who wants to treat themselves to the best,” says Natasha Espinoza, Custom Suit Clothier at Toronto’s GotStyle. “Nothing pairs better than a tailor-made suit with a drink to match.” A suit and a fine whiskey, Espinoza says, are both elements of the made-to-measure lifestyle, a philosophy that goes beyond your clothes and your bar. “It’s living your most authentic life,” she says. “Why fit in when you’re custom made? It makes sense that everything should be custom to you, whether it’s your suits, your shoes, or your drinks.”

Just like the suits Espinoza tailors for her clients at GotStyle using the finest materials, Bushmills’ award-winning portfolio of whiskeys are all made “grain to glass”. That means using only locally sourced ingredients, and crafting whiskey in small batches entirely at the Old Bushmills Distillery in County Antrim, Northern Ireland just as they have for the past 400 years. This is one thing that sets Bushmills apart from other distillers, and a part of the philosophy that contributes to creating some of the best whiskeys in the world.

“Bushmills has been uncompromising in the consistency and quality of its production techniques over time,” says Jared Boller, National Whiskey Ambassador for Bushmills. “Bushmills is both the oldest licensed whiskey distillery in the world and one of the only remaining grain to glass distilleries, producing world-class Irish whiskey since 1608 from locally sourced Irish ingredients. As our head distiller Colum Egan, suggests, ‘We’re not the best because we’re the oldest, we’re the oldest because we’re the best.’”

Jared Boller, National Whiskey Ambassador for Bushmills.

While Bushmills is unequivocally committed to its traditions, Boller says, being “made-to-measure” also means crafting tailored solutions suited to evolving, modern tastes. In pursuit of this, the distillery, at any given time, is experimenting with aging and finish- ing in forty-plus different types of wood in search of the next perfect whiskey to carry Bushmills’ tradition of excellence into the future.

“For hundreds of years, Bushmills has committed to grain to glass distillation, high quality local ingredients, and relentless experimentation in pursuit of the best whiskey we can make,” Boller says. “As Irish whiskey gains popularity today, and people discover the flavour and heritage that Bushmills has to offer, they become a part of a timeless tradition of excellence and quality extending back to the origins of Irish whiskey itself, and that’s what makes Bushmills a classic, stylish choice.”

Bushmills Malt 10 Year Old Irish Whiskey. $52, lcbo.com
Bushmills Black Bush Irish Whiskey. $40, lcbo.com
Bushmills Irish Whiskey. $35, lcbo.com.

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