Dia duit, tá súil agam go bhfuil lá iontach ag gach duine. Let me welcome you to the 3rd review of this Irish Whiskey Month!☘️🇮🇪 We already had two great whiskies reviewed. I thought that if we had the Tullamore D.E.W. on the menu already, one of the basics of Irish Whiskey, why not have another? The Bushmills "White Label" Original. Anyhow I was very curious how the two compares to eachother so I snagged a bottle as a part of the St. Patrick sale here in my local store for 15 euros. What a great price for a full bottle of whiskey. Oh yeah and I forgot to mention, it was the gift pack version so I got two lovely Bushmills tumblers too. They are great for drinking water to be honest. Happy with them.

March the 17th is Saint Patrick's Day (Lá Fhéile Pádraig) in Ireland. This day commemorates Saint Patrick and the arrival of Christianity in Ireland, and by extension, celebrates the heritage and culture of the Irish in general. Many reviewers like me pays homage to Ireland and its people by reviewing Irish Whiskeys this month.

Before we go any further, please check out a few of my previous Irish Whiskey reviews.

I would also like to address something else. I was very saddened to hear that Bill "The Whiskey Dictionary" is ending his YouTube journey, as far as his whiskey channel goes. He really put out quality content out there. Millions of whisk(e)y reviews, be it Bourbons, Scotches or Irish whiskeys. He reviewed them all. He also had tutorial and teaching videos on how to taste and nose whisk(e)y. And so many more great videos. Quality content truly. Bill also kept March as "Irish Whiskey Month" to honor the people of Ireland. I got the idea to do the same from him, so thank you Bill. Thank you for all the work you put into your channel and all the knowledge you shared with the whisk(e)y society. We really appreaciate you. I wish you good luck in your future endavours, I hope to see you around!

About the the Old Bushmills distillery

The Old Bushmills Distillery is an Irish whiskey distillery in Bushmills, County Antrim, Northern Ireland, founded in 1784 and owned by Proximo Spirits. Bushmills Distillery uses water drawn from Saint Columb's Rill, which is a tributary of the River Bush. The distillery is a popular tourist attraction, with around 120,000 visitors per year.

The company that originally built the distillery was formed in 1784, although the date 1608 is printed on the label of the brand – referring to an earlier date when a royal licence was granted to a local landowner to distil whiskey in the area. Over 400 years later, whiskey is still being made in Bushmills, thanks to experience and craft passed down from generation to generation.

In the 1850s, the Crown imposed a tax on those distilling in Ireland through a tax on barley. Even then, malted barley was known throughout the world to make the finest whiskey, known as "pure malt" whiskey. When only malted barley is used in distillation, and made at a single distillery, you have the very definition of "single malt" whiskey. That tax, however, forever changed Irish whiskey, as almost every Irish whiskey distillery began substituting corn or other inferior grains for barley.

After various periods of closure in its subsequent history, the distillery has been in approximately continuous operation since it was rebuilt after a fire. In 1885, a disastrous fire destroyed The Old Bushmills Distillery but they pulled together, were soon rebuilt, and back in full production to meet soaring US demand.

After the Second World War, the distillery was bought by Isaac Wolfson, and, in 1972, it was taken over by Irish Distillers, meaning that Irish Distillers controlled the production of all Irish whiskey at the time. In June 1988, Irish Distillers was bought by French liquor group Pernod Ricard.

In June 2005, the distillery was bought by Diageo for £200 million. Diageo has also announced a large advertising campaign in order to regain a market share for Bushmills.

In April 2023, Bushmills opened its second distillery, the "Causeway Distillery".

Bushmills is more than just a whiskey. It's a village, where family, friends and neighbours work side by side at the distillery. As we often say, "without the village there would be no whiskey, and without the whiskey there would be no village". 

Triple distillation is the open secret of Bushmills Distillery that makes its whiskey unique and smooth. After Midleton Distillery, Bushmills is the second biggest Irish distillery with an annual production capacity of 4.5 million liters and stills are running seven days a week.

There are ten big pot stills and six spirit safes are the heart of the Old Bushmills Distillery and they perform the triple distillation that is typical for Bushmills Whiskey. Production is modern and computerized at Bushmills and it only needs one man to conduct the fermentation- and distillation process.

The core range

The core range of Bushmills currently consists of 8 bottlings.

• Original - blended Irish whiskey, aged in Bourbon & Oloroso Sherry Casks, bottled at 40%
• Black Bush - blended Irish whiskey, 80% malt 20% grain, aged in Bourbon & Oloroso Sherry Casks, bottled at 40%
• 10 year old - single malt, aged in Bourbon & Oloroso Sherry Casks, bottled at 40%
• 14 year old - single malt, aged in Bourbon Casks & finished in Málaga Wine Casks, bottled at 40%
• 16 year old - single malt, aged in Bourbon & Oloroso Sherry & Port Casks, bottled at 40%
• 21 year old - single malt, aged in Bourbon & Oloroso Sherry Casks, finished in Madeira Casks, bottled at 40%
• 25 year old - single malt, aged in Port Pipes, bottled at 46%
• 30 year old - single malt, aged in PX Sherry Casks, bottled at 46%

The core range of Bushmills - images taken from bushmills.com

Bushmills The Original - Natural Color (?), Chill filtered (?), 40%

"The Bushmills Original recipe dates back to before prohibition. Combining our single malt whiskey and a lighter grain whiskey, you'll notice its rich, smooth warming taste almost instantly, just as generations have done before."

"The cornerstone of our family, Bushmills Original is a smooth and versatile triple distilled blend. An approachable whiskey which has been matured in both bourbon and sherry casks resulting in fresh fruit and vanilla notes."

Nose: Young & spirity at first. However there is no alcohol sticking out. Quite fruity and sweet. Malty notes, honey, vanilla and caramel. Orchard fruits such as green apples, ripe pears and juicy peaches. A metallic note, which tells us that the spirit is indeed young in here. Freshly cut grass, hay and cracked black pepper. A very faint hint of sherry fruits. Overall a pleasant nose.

Taste: Not too thin. It has a great structure. Oily. Lots of vanilla, caramel and honey on the first sip. Sweet but spicy! On the second sip green apples arrive alongside peaches. Cinnamon and black pepper. A very distand hint of sherry fruits, especially raisins. It is a very clean and very crispy spirit if I can say so. There is no unpleasant taste here, it is very smooth and mellow even though it is a young spirit.

Finish: The finish is short/medium. Firstly it is very sweet with vanilla and honey but turns into a nice savory sensation with green tea, freshly cut grass, salted caramel and cracked black pepper.

Overall this is a great introduction into Irish Whiskey. I think it is a quite drinkable smooth whiskey with a very little metallic spirity youthfullness in the nose which does not follow in the taste. I really like Bushmills and this confirms why. Their cheapest and youngest whiskey and it is still very nice. I can whole heartedly recommend this to beginners or to someone who is looking for a cheap every day sipping whiskey. I rate this 5.1/10. Buy it, try it. Drink responsibly.

Some pictures in this article are not owned by me, I tagged their owner and I attached a link of their site. All other pictures that have my logo on them are TAKEN AND OWNED BY ME.

Check out the points on all the whiskies I've rated and ranked head-to-head.

Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed it. To many more. Sláinte.

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