In 2013 KWA went to Ireland. Bushmills is located on Northern Ireland near the coast just about 40 km from Islay. So from Bushmills you can almost smell the peat smoke from the distilleries on Islay. But Bushmills doesn’t make whisky with peat. Bushmills whisky is a in the opposite direction, triple distilled and very smooth.
The distilling in the Bushmills area started already in 1608, but Bushmills Distillery itself was not established until 1784 by Hugh Anderson. In these days Bushmills is owned by Diageo.
When KWA visited Bushmills we booked the “Public Tour” completed with the “Tasting Experience”. Our guide Laura took us around the distillery and told us about the history of Bushmills and the whisky making there. The “Public Tour” ended at the bar for a dram of Bushmills. The “Tasting Experience” was directed by a guide named Ben. It is always so pleasant to listen to somebody who really loves his job and knows how to do it and Ben really is that kind of person. The “Tasting Experience” consisted of seven drams of different Bushmills and one dram of Scotch whisky and one Bourbon whiskey. The Scotch and the Bourbon were for tasting reference. It is not so hard to understand that we were a little bit intoxicated after these tours….
