Bushmills’ Master Distiller on Why Practice Makes Perfect
BUSHMILLS & SHARP
It’s easy to get a skewed sense of history these days, when your smartphone is obsolete after two years and the news cycle makes five years ago seem like 50. Some things, however, age better than others. When Bushmills received its license to distil in 1608, the world may have been a very different place, but the process of making single-malt whiskey was very much the same as it is today. In the last 400 years, with the help of wisdom handed down from one generation of distillers to the next, Bushmills has maintained the integrity and tradition of their craft with each bottle.
As one of the few remaining “grain to glass” distillers in the world, every part of the whiskey-making process is managed on-site at the Old Bushmills Distillery in Northern Ireland, just as it has been since 1608. Under the leadership of Master Distiller Colum Egan, Bushmills is made from 100 percent malt barley and pure spring water from St. Columb’s Rill, a tributary of the River Bush for which the town of Bushmills is named. Along with a triple-distilling process using tall, narrow copper stills, it is this water, filtered through layers of hard basalt rock, that contributes to Bushmills’ world-renowned smoothness.
Bushmills
The distillery’s flagship Bushmills 10 Year Old Single Malt whiskey is made in this traditional method. It’s dried using hot air, which allows for a smooth fruity character. Once the spirit comes off the stills, it is then matured in American oak (ex-bourbon) barrels and Spanish sherry barrels. In addition to mellowing the whiskey’s taste as it ages, these barrels help to impart the whiskey’s signature honey, vanilla, and milk chocolate aromas.
The 10 Year Old may be the youngest of the Bushmills single malts, but it’s a sophisticated whiskey with a profile well beyond its years. For that reason, it’s a perfect whiskey to enjoy neat or on the rocks. But despite everything else that has changed in the world from 1608 to today, that’s one thing that remains the same: the best way to enjoy Bushmills is however you like it best.
The Bushmills Whiskey Neat
Bushmills 10 Year Old is best enjoyed neat, with a small drop of water, or over one large ice cube.
Our Favourite Bushmills Picks
Bushmills 10 Year Old Single Malt Whiskey
Bushmills 16 Year Old Single Malt Whiskey
Bushmills Black Bush Irish Whiskey
