Old Bushmills Distillery - Bushmills - Things To Do Reviews

The home of Irish Malt Whiskey, the Old Bushmills Distillery is the oldest licensed whiskey distillery in the world making whiskey since 1608. Single Malt Whiskies such as Bushmills and Black Bush are produced here and guided whiskey tours are available.
Whiskey the ‘uisce beatha’ – water of life in Gaelic has been distilled here at Bushmills since the 13th Century. But it was 1608 when the area was granted an official license by King James I to distil whiskey and has been making the finest Irish Malt Whiskey here for nearly 400 years.
Whiskies from ‘Old Bushmills’ are famed for their warm, distinctive taste and the art and craft of distilling them, which has been handed down for generations. All this can be experienced on a tour through the working distillery. The tour takes you through the processes from the water of the springs of St. Columb’s Rill, the malting of Irish barley, its triple distillation in copper stills and its maturing in oak casks and of course the tour ends with a sample of one of the distillery’s famous, Bushmills whiskies.
I went with a group from the over 50 club ‘Cumann Cairdeas’ from Donegal. We took the full tour, the film and most importantly the whiskey tasting session. It was brilliant and thank goodness someone else (the coach driver) was behind the wheel. I think I tasted 7 different whiskeys and bought a bottle of the 10 year old. Mmmmmmmm lovely but all I have now is the memory. Even if you don’t like whiskey or don’t drink it is fascinating and the distillery buildings themselves are amazing.
Getting there is fairly easy, buses brom Belfast and Derry, its well signposted and on the route to the Giants Causeway, but go the causeway first, cliffs, sheer drops into the sea and climbing don't sit too well with multiple shots of malt whiskey. - Be warned!