Bushmills 16 Year Single Malt

When it comes to Irish whiskey, people typically gush over the Redbreast line and the Spots. Conversely, this Bushmills 16 mostly flies under the radar--though both the Distiller score and community ratings would indicate otherwise. Let's see if this deserves a spot at the Irish big boy table. Nose: Strawberry and raspberry off the jump. Apple, pear, plum, and apricot develop after a few minutes. Jammy/syrupy sweetness. Honeydew and kiwi. Raisin too. The nutty notes I typically find in Bushmills are definitely present, but are overshadowed by the powerful fruit notes yielded by the port-sherry barrel combination. Vanilla and toffee. Floral notes. Strong ginger note with a hint of cinnamon and plenty of oak. Great nose. Palate: Apple (both green and red), pear, kiwi, and, apricot are strong here. Blackberry, fig, date, raisin, and plum assert themselves after a few minutes. Strawberry and cranberry. Walnut, cahshew and roasted chestnut. Vanilla and orange zest along with light milk chocolate and caramel notes. Honeydew. Oak. Virtually no heat--though I'd be surprised if there was at 40% ABV. Delicious palate. Finish: Walnut, cashew, and roasted chestnut return in a big way. The dark fruit is retained from the palate. Blackberry, raisin, date, fig, plum. Cinnamon, baking spice, and oak. There's plenty of flavor here, and shockingly-considering the low proof, it isn't a flash on the pan. Medium length, maybe a tad less; enjoyable regardless. The Olorosso and port casks play togehter beautifully with this whiskey. At every turn, one seems to compliment the other. At different points in time after pouring, one takes precedence, while the other does its job as a foil. The bourbon barrel, while not assertive in any way, plays its role as a backdrop for the lead actors. This is a fantastic whiskey. To date, I consider this the jewel of Bushmills (I'll have to get around to the 21 to say this definitively.) It succeeds where every lesser version of Bushmills fails. Except for one thing. 40% ABV. I don't think this is ever a good thing to have embroidered on your bottle's packaging--especially if it's meant to be a sipper. And this clearly is meant to be a sipper. In context, the finish is surprisingly powerful. When evaluated against the other whiskies I've had, it's unremarkable. Beef this one up to 43-48% (46% is a fair compromise) and it's a world-beater. 4.25. With a higher ABV, the sky's the limit for this one. The craftsmanship that went into this one is evident. I'm only so critical because for all the care they've put into the cask arrangement, a bump in ABV seems like a small concession to take this to the next level. But make no mistake, this whiskey deserves a seat at the Irish big boy table.

Bushmills. That very name brings back one particular memory. It was my business school days. It’s an automatic Pavlovian response. I hear Bushmills, and then this one particular memory from my MBA days come back. I was 24. Minding my own business, studying in the graduate school library., which was shared by the entire grad school across all their programs. This young woman is sitting across me, and we start chatting. She’s talking about research she’s looking into regarding some English lit. I assumed she was in the MS or PhD lit program. We chatted for hours that evening. Before heading out, I asked her out on a date. Was thrilled she agreed. So, the following weekend, I pick her up from her house, right outside the campus. I assumed ( wrong assumption #1) that she was living off campus with friends. We go to an Italian restaurant, all the while again having a great conversation. I ordered a Bushmills, and I assumed she’d like wine—-I asked her “red or white”?, she replies back “ I can’t drink”. I assumed she just doesn’t drink. Wrong assumption #2. Midway through dinner, she mentions how she’s so afraid of upcoming PSATs. I froze right then. “PSATs? Is that some graduate literature thing?”. “No. It’s the test you take in your junior year of high school”. Holy shit. I’m driving you right back home. Crap. Get in the car, and you need to get back home. Apparently she was in the grad school library looking up research articles…in my defense, I had no idea that smart high schoolers come there for research. Anyway…this 16 year old Bushmills bought back that memory. This Bushmills is in a totally different experience than the one ages ago. I’m sharing this with friends of similar age. This is rich in aromas. Cherry and tropical fruits. Palette is fruits layered with milk chocolate. Amazing… not sure of the price, I’m only have a pour at a friend’s. But I notice this is 40%. Too bad…this would be a notch up if it were higher ABV. So…net/net: it’s a whiskey worth having this with friends or family…not high school women researching articles in a grad school library.

Review #54, Whiskey #38 Bought on discount for 58 eur, which seems a steal given that it is usually found at around 90 eur. Chill-filtered - Yes Artificial Colour - Yes ABV - 40% Aspect - Deep gold-amber, medium legs, seems oily in glass. Nose - sweet, caramel, honey, vanilla, oak, dryness, spices (cinnamon), indistinguishable dried fruit, and ripe orchard fruit, malt and almonds. The ex-bourbon cask seems most prominent here, very mellow. Palate - melow, oily on the front end, oak spice (accentuates with time), and cinnamon, which slowly fade to give place to more sweetness, honey, vanilla, caramel, malt, nutty, with a bit more port influence here. There is also a whiff of very pleasant smoke throughout, which adds complexity. Finish - medium-long, dried fruit, especially raisin-forward, subtle bitterness on the after-taste. Very good whiskey...after some failed attempt with Ardbeg 10 (sorry), it is good to be back to some more approachable things. Complex, beautiful development and layering, with each cask showing influence in different points of the tasting experience. Bought it for Christmas, wonderful presentation, and thoroughly enjoyed by my entire family, whisk(e)y nerds (myself), and passive enjoyers alike. Rating System: 5.0 - Perfect 4.5 - Exceptional 4.0 - Very Good 3.5 - Good 3.0 - Decent 2.5 - Average 2.0 - Below Average 1.5 - Barely Drinkable 1.0 - Undrinkable 0.5 - JB

On a first pour the sherry and port dominate, with plums and raisins fighting toe to toe with red apples; much of what I expect from an Irish are buried. However after drinking a sherry bomb and coming back to this one the Irish roots shine through and the dominant nose is green apple, honey, and short bread cookie. No alcohol impact whatsoever at 40%. Really really sweet, even a hint of green apple on the taste, it’s so refreshing. I would compare this to a Green Spot in that sense, but with a bit more sherry and port influence. Really good, but for the price I’d prefer Yellow Spot or Red Breast for the weight and complexity.

Nose: Jammy red berries and caramelised banana. Some light baking spices. Palate: Soft body. Honey and oak spice with some chewy red berry. Finish: Chocolate drizzled dried cranberries and strawberry. A touch of dryness. Comparing to the 10 year, the same base spirit is evident in the 16. The honey flavour is more prominent in the 10 and is rounded off by all the jammy notes that come from the port casks in the 16.

Fragrant nose with floral notes, vanilla, red wine and nuts. Slick and sweet on the palate with mildly spiced wine, butter cookies, oatmeal raisin cookies and baking spices. Finish is surprisingly long for 40ABV with a bit of smoldering oak, spiced wine, baking spices and mixed nuts. Desert in a glass. I love it! This is an older bottling, dont know if there is any difference to the newer one.