Bushmills Irish Honey 1 l

This Irish spirit drink is a little different to other Bushmills products. The company’s blenders and distillers created this dram with real Irish honey and therefore named it Bushmills Irish Honey.

On the nose it is a smooth and fruity spirit that shows aromas of apples, honey, cereal and some herbs. On the palate it appears light and sweet but definitely not too sugary. Of course the honey adds some sweetness to the liqueur but more important is the aromatic character that comes from it. Furthermore, notes of herbs like lavender and a hint of marshmallows make the composition more complete and complex. The finish is soft and easy with the natural honey coming through again.

The Bushmills Irish Honey has been triple distilled. To let the spirit go through the stills three times makes the result much smoother and leads to a higher alcohol content. It is becoming smoother because the spirit is losing more and more fusel oils with each further run-through.

In general, those fusel oils are nothing bad but they can carry flavours that are undesired in the production of liqueur or whiskey. Thus, in order to create a clean and smooth spirit, the Bushmills Distillery is distilling three times.

Whiskey production has a very long tradition in Ireland and it is not even totally clear when it started. Some references date back to the 13th century when Irish troops had a good sip of some whiskey-like spirit before going into battles. Later in 1608 King James I. granted a licence to distil whiskey to Sir Thomas Phillipps.

The Bushmills Distillery was probably built in the mid-18th century. First, it was run illegal by smugglers and was established officially by Hugh Anderson in 1784. Today the company is run by Casa Cuervo but still produces like in the old days.

• The Irish Whisky Masters 2014
  Master in the category Irish Flavoured Whiskey
• The Irish Whisky Masters 2013
  Master in the category Irish Flavoured Whiskey