The oldest edition of Bushmills
Ireland's Bushmills distillery traces its lineage back to the early 17th century, making it the world's oldest functioning whisky maker. For years, the date 1608 has been proudly displayed on bottles of Bushmills whiskey. Admittedly, the old Bushmills distillery, which still exists today, was founded in 1784, but that doesn't change much. The vast majority of Scottish distilleries were established or legalized after 1823. This is first. And secondly, Bushmills is not the only case where a whiskey maker emphasizes the historical continuity of its business, citing the founding date of another previously operating distillery. Suffice it to cite the example of Glenturret in the Scottish Highlands, proudly bearing the title of Scotland's oldest whisky distillery, despite the fact that the distillery did not actually exist for over 30 years, and was built virtually from scratch in 1959.
It is not the age of Bushmills as a distillery that we want to dwell on today, however. For behold, this oldest distillery in the world has released the oldest edition of whisky in its history. And in this case there is no shadow of a doubt.
Bushmills 44yo (48% vol.) is an Irish single malt whiskey, distilled in December 1978 and aged in oloroso sherry casks from the Spanish cooperage Antonio Paez Lobato. Whiskey was created to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Dubai Duty Free store, located at Dubai International Airport.
As assured by the manufacturer, this truly age-old whiskey offers notes of dried fruits, honey, malt and warming spices in its bouquet. In taste, expect silky chocolate, licorice, cinnamon, plums, cherries, sweet raisins, figs, roasted almonds and walnuts.
The edition is limited to only 40 bottles, offered exclusively at the Dubai Duty Free store, and the purchase of a single bottle will cost the equivalent of $12,000 US.
In February 2023, Bushmills released a 33-year-old whiskey, which at the time was the brand's oldest whiskey edition. It was part of The Causeway Collection series, a collection of Irish whiskies subjected to various finishes, commemorating an unusual geological formation, the Giant's Causeway, consisting of some 40,000 basalt columns and located near the distillery, in County Antrim on the north coast of Northern Ireland.
In April 2023, the owner of the Old Bushmills distillery, Proximo, announced the opening of a new whiskey distillery, called Causeway Distillery, for which a not inconsiderable sum of £37 million was spent on construction and equipment.
The current offerings of the House of Whisky Online include a wide selection of whiskey from Bushmills distillery, including more than one edition included in the aforementioned series The Causeway Collection. We invite you to visit.
[15.12.2023 / photo: Bushmills]