About Bushmills 21 Year Old Three Woods Single Malt Irish Whiskey
In 1608, King James I of England granted Sir Thomas Phillipps — the governor of Bushmills, County Antrim in Northern Ireland — a license to distill on his territory. Even in those early years, before the Old Bushmills Distillery Company was officially established (Hugh Anderson did so in 1784, and registered the first-ever trademark for the pot still), historical accounts show that a great quantity of whiskey was produced here, and Bushmills is widely-considered to be the oldest distillery in the world. Though several events — including a disastrous fire in 1885, as well as World War II — halted production at the Old Bushmills Distillery, the distillery determinedly fought on, and in 2008, celebrated its 400th anniversary.
Bushmills 21 Year Old Single Malt Irish Whiskey is made with pure, unmalted barley, which is dried in the hot air as opposed to over a peat flame, leading to an absence of the “smoky” character typically found in Scotch whiskies. Once the wort has been fermented, the resulting wash is triple-distilled through copper pot stills — compared to other stills, the stills at the Old Bushmills Distillery are smaller, with relatively slender necks, and those unique characteristics help give the whiskey a lighter, smoother flavor.
Once distilled, Bushmills 21 Year Old Single Malt Irish Whiskey is laid to rest for 19 years in a combination of ex-American bourbon and ex-Spanish sherry barrels, then finally married together for an additional two years in a madeira-infused cask. This intense aging process gives the whiskey an aroma of toffee and dark, bittersweet chocolate. The palate is bursting with raisins, and leads to a long, complex finish marked by mint and fresh licorice.
A very limited number of these casks exist in the Old Bushmills Distillery, and we’ve managed to secure just a handful of bottles.
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About Bushmills
In the words of Master Distiller Colum Egan, the world’s oldest licensed whiskey is not good because it’s old, but rather it’s the other way around. Granted the royal license to distill in 1608, Bushmills is located in the village of Bushmills on the north coast of Ireland. Embedded in the lives of the locals who work side by side in this legendary distillery, the water is sourced from the River Bush that flows through the village.
More than 400 years later, Bushmills is still delighting its loyal fans with new offerings. The distillery weathered everything from a disastrous fire, the Prohibition and devastating grain taxes because of its uncompromising commitment to quality – even when other Irish whiskeys were forever changed due to a tax on barley, this legendary distillery continued distilling single malt whiskey in the traditional way, never substituting barley for corn or other inferior grains. Among its endless accolades, the distillery boasts the only Gold Medal for whiskey ever to be awarded at the Paris 1889 Expo.
About Irish Whiskey
Contrary to popular belief that Scots invented whisk(e)y, Irish whiskey was mentioned almost a century before its Scottish brother.
Its origin comes from the perfume distilling monks who decided to tweak the recipe a bit, creating Irish whiskey.
Irish whiskey doesn’t have a lot of rules and regulations to be considered “pure” and can be made with various grains and processes, as long as it is aged for at least three years in wooden casks and has a max ABV of 94.8%.
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