Whisky: Bushmills Black Bush Irish Whiskey
Producer: Diageo
Distillery: Old Bushmills
Region: County Antrim, Nothern Ireland
Whisky Type: Irish Blend (Triple Distilled)
Age: NAS
ABV: 40%
Aged in Cask: Ex-Bourbon and ex-sherry
Price Range: $

Bushmills is a traditional Irish Whiskey distillery located in Antrim, Northern Ireland. The distillery claims to be the oldest in the world after King James granted the area a royal license to distill whiskey in 1608. However, the Bushmills distillery was established in 1784.

Bushmills gets its name from the barley mills used by the distillery and the River Bush, which remains the water source to cut the whiskey to proof. The distillery uses malted barley in all of its whiskies and proudly displays 1608 in all of its bottles.

The style of the house can easily overlap with that of any Scottish distillery. Bushmills’ style is sweet, light, grassy, smoky, and malty.

Bushmills joined the Irish Distillers Limited (IDL) in 1972 but left the conglomerate after Pernod Ricard acquired it in June 1988. In 2005, Diageo purchased it and is now part of its portfolio of brands.

The Core Range:

• Bushmills Original. A blend of Malted Barley and Grain whiskies.
• Red Bush. A blend of Malted Barley and Grain Whiskies aged in bourbon casks.
• Black Bush. A blend of Malted Barley and Grain whiskies aged in bourbon and sherry casks.
• Bushmills 10-year-old. A Single Malt aged in bourbon and sherry.
• Bushmills 12-year-old. A Single Malt aged 11 years in bourbon and sherry casks, finished in Marsala casks for 6-9 months.
• Bushmills 16-year-old. A Single Malt aged 15 years in bourbon and Oloroso Sherry for 15 years, finished in Port pipes for 9 months.
• Bushmills 21-year-old. Single Malt aged 19 years bourbon and sherry casks, finished in Madeira for 2 years.

A Single Malt is a whiskey made from 100% malted from one distillery.

Grain whisky is made with any malted or unmalted grain (generally wheat or corn) other than barley, and when these two whiskies are combined, they create what we know as Blends.

Grain whiskies are typically light in style and help smooth out the intense flavor from the Single Malts.

What does malt(ing) mean?

Malting is the process of converting starches into sugars (a.k.a. saccharification) from the grain (i.e., barley, rye, etc.). There are three steps in malting: Steeping, Germination, and Kilning.

Steeping

The process starts with steeping. The barley soaks in a tank for about two to three days. The hydration triggers germination.

Germination

The Malt Man spreads the barley across the malting floor. The seeds begin to grow/sprout, which releases two enzymes (alpha-amylase and beta-amylase). These enzymes break the complex carbohydrates into single molecule sugars (monosaccharides) that results in green barley (a.k.a. unmalted barley).

The Malt Man turns the barley frequently to prevent the sprouts from getting tangled.

Kilning 

After enough germination, the barley is dried (or malted) with hot air from a kiln or oven. The goal is to halt germination and prevent the future plant from consuming the sugars.

The kiln is typically under the malting floor, and hot air and smoke will dry the barley in the malting floor. The distillery decides whether or not to use peat to flavor the barley.

Although not part of the malting process, there are additional steps in the whisky-making process that are important to mention:

• Milling. The roasted grain is turned into grist (powder) in the mill room.
• Mashing. The grain is mashed (cooked) with hot water to continue the sugar extraction through enzyme action. A white sugary liquid called the wort is the output of mashing.
• Fermentation. The wort enters the fermentation tanks and converts via yeast the wort into alcohol (a.k.a. the wash or beer). This step can take anywhere from 48 to 72 hours and produces alcohol content between 5% to 10%. The wash will then enter the Wash Still for the first distillation and the process continues.

Being a very traditional distillery, Bushmills uses triple distillation in Pot Stills, resulting in a lighter body whiskey due to prolonged exposure of the wash to the copper from the still.

Bushmills Black Bush Tasting Notes

Black Bush is a premium blend containing an unusually high proportion of malt whiskey (80%) to grain whiskey (20%). The expression became available in the U.S. in 1984.

Nose: Gentle citrus nose and raisins.

Palate: Raisins, sweet and malty flavor. Adding water does not change the whisky very much. I am surprised by this.

Finish: Medium finish with oranges, sherry, and licorice.

Conclusion: Overall a good whiskey that is easy to drink and affordable. However, the malt does not pack the punch I expected. The 40% ABV does not do a big favor accentuating the citrus and dried fruit notes. I would have liked to drink this at 46% ABV or more.

Awards:

Bushmills Black Bush Finest Blended Whiskey received double gold medals at the 2007 and 2010 San Francisco World Spirits Competitions.

Score: 2.5/5⭐

Check more Irish whiskey here. Join our community on my Instagram account.

Legend
$50 or less $
$51-$100 $$
$101-$150 $$$
$151 or more $$$$