Bushmills – The Causeway Collection
A tale of two islands – Bushmills Irish Whiskey partners with culinary storyteller, Chef Jason Howard, to launch luxury Causeway Collection with rare 1997 Rum Cask.
Near the distillery, nature’s Giant’s Causeway is said to have been a source of inspiration for decades and decades of Bushmills’ master blenders. Known for its columns of basalt rock, The Causeway Collection drew inspiration from, and is born of the sea air and mineral-rich water.
Bushmills is home to the world’s oldest licensed Whiskey Distillery. Official records stretch back to 1608, when the area was granted its license to distill. Now over 400 years later, Whiskey is still being made in Bushmills, thanks to experience and craft passed down from generation to generation.
All Bushmills expressions are distilled, matured and bottled on-site.
Master Blender Alex Thomas said “It has been a privilege to watch over these Whiskey’s and to taste their individual flavour profiles developing”.
Alex was born in Ballymoney, just 15 minutes from The Old Bushmills Distillery, she succeeds Helen Mulholland, who began her long career at The Old Bushmills Distillery almost 30 years ago.
Thomas joined the Bushmills team in 2004 and, since then, has spent over 17 years honing her craft; fascinated in particular by the maturation phase of the whiskey-making process.
Bushmills Irish Whiskey has unveiled the 2022 releases for its Causeway Collection, a series of rare single malts.
The 1997 Rum Cask was fully matured in Caribbean rum casks and bottled at cask strength and is non-chill filtered.
Let’s now have a taste.
Bushmills Causeway Collection – The 1997 Rum Cask, Single Malt Irish Whisky, 46.2% Alc/vol 70cl.
Colour…Early barley harvest.
Nose…A cavalcade of summer fruits, flambeed bananas, fudge, honey, quite aromatic.
Taste…Delicate but not weak, cherry bakewell tart, chocolate orange and ginger beer, with a teardrop of water you get a young armagnac, vanilla, fresh oak, truly exotic.
Finish…Long finish with spice and oak lingering,
A delightful dram, one of the finest Irish Whiskeys I have tasted in a long time. With an RRP of £395.00 it is quite expensive, but the more I sip this dram the more I believe it is worth the price.
