Another release of Giant's Causeway from Bushmills
The Causeway Collection series is the work of Helen Mulholland, the master buyer of Irish distillery Bushmills. Inspired by an unusual geological formation called the Giant's Causeway, it debuted in November 2020. Since then, a whole series of unusual editions of Irish single malt whiskey have seen the light of day, the result of carefully prepared maturation processes. The collection included whiskies finished in cognac, port, malaga, Madeira or sauternes barrels. This time it was time for whiskey finished in... bourbon barrels.
Bushmills 27yo Bourbon Cask, because this whisky is referred to, is a beverage that went into third-fill bourbon barrels immediately after distillation. However, after six years, it was decided that the maturing whiskey should be poured into first-fill barrels, also from bourbon. In them this whiskey spent the next 21 years. Bushmills 27yo was bottled as a limited edition to 678 bottles, with no prior dilution (52.1%), no caramel coloring and no cold filtering. Its bouquet offers notes of vanilla, crème brûlée, tropical fruits and cinnamon. Its retail price has been set at €650 per bottle.
The Old Bushmills Distillery is considered to be the oldest currently operating whisky distillery in the world. Bushmills whiskey bottles proudly state 1608 as the date the distillery was founded. In fact, this is the date of the liquor license granted to a local landowner, Thomas Phillips, by King James I Stuart. The distillery itself was founded in 1784, and the buildings that still exist today date mostly from 1885, when Old Bushmills was rebuilt after a fire. Bushmills distillery had periods of downtime in the 19th century, but in its second half, after being taken over by a consortium of a certain Jame McColgan and Patrick Corrigan, the distillery began a dynamic conquest of world markets. In 1890, the company even purchased the transatlantic steamer SS Bushmills, which delivered whiskey to Philadelphia and New York before continuing on to Singapore, Hong Kong and Shanghai, and even Japan's Yokohama. In the second half of the 20th century, when the Bushmills distillery was acquired by Irish Distillers in 1972, it was one of two whiskey plants operating in Ireland. The second was the Old Midleton Distillery in County Cork. In 1988 Irish Distillers, and by extension the Bushmills distillery, became part of the Pernod Ricard empire. In 2005 Bushmills was sold to Diageo for the astronomical sum of £200 million. In 2014, there was a kind of exchange. Diageo has given the Bushmills distillery to Jose Cuervo's conglomerate in exchange for a missing 50% stake in the Don Julio brand, the world's most valuable tequila brand.
In 2008, banknotes issued by the Bank of Ireland appeared in Ireland, featuring an illustration of Old Bushmills Distillery.
There are quite a few on the shelves of the House of Whisky Online a wide range of whiskey from Bushmills distillery, including copies that are part of The Causeway Collection series. Those interested in exploring the products of this iconic distillery are encouraged to visit online - whether for whiskey for everyday sipping, rare editions with collector potential, or even strictly limited old editions that are a treat for many a collector. Please visit!
[16.12.2021 / photo: Bushmills]