Irish Whiskey: Ireland’s best-known and most-loved whiskeys. Gary Quinn

Bushmills Original

      You’ll find Bushmills Original in just about any bar in Ireland, its gold and white label immediately familiar among the ever more crowded shelves of Irish whiskey. It’s a consistent award winner and its marriage of young grain with older, triple-distilled malt gives it a smooth creamy feel that makes it an excellent introduction to the Bushmills stable. Matured in ex-bourbon and sherry casks, you can expect vanilla and light fruit flavours. Bottled at 40 per cent.

Bushmills Red Bush

      Red Bush is a recent arrival at Bushmills, having been introduced as recently as 2017. Originally aimed at the US market, it’s a blend of four-year-old grain whiskey matured in first-fill bourbon casks to capture a stronger bourbon feel. It has a similar vanilla, fruit flavour to the Original, but with a sweeter finish which lingers and dominates this new entry-level whiskey. It has a darker red colour, to match its title identity. Bottled at 40 per cent.

Bushmills Black Bush

      Fans of Black Bush are wholly committed to their love of this great malt and grain blend. Known by some in Ireland as “Bushmills Liquor”, ordering a glass of Black Bush in a bar brings with it a hint of class that is often lacking in the identity of other Irish whiskeys. It gets its attractive dark colour from maturing in sherry casks and has a wonderful smoothness that underpins its rich, deep flavour. The blend is majority malt whiskey, aged up to 18 years. Bottled at 40 per cent.

Bushmills 10-year-old Single Malt

      Triple-distilled, like all of the Bushmills family, this 100 per cent single malt is matured in bourbon and sherry casks for at least 10 years. It’s a signature product in the Bushmills range and cuts to the heart of what Bushmills is famous for – rich, warm, honeyed, satisfying flavours. Chocolate and vanilla dominate and create a wonderful profile for the first of a trio of superb single malts. Bottled at 40 per cent.

Bushmills 16-year-old Single Malt

      Complexity of flavour dominates this 16-year-old single malt with a layer of drama that captures all the smoothness of the 10-year-old but is stuffed full of attractive, robust added flavours. Layers of spice, honey and nuts leave a long lingering flavour. The malt is aged in both bourbon and sherry casks for around 15 years and then brought together in a port cask for up to a year, creating sweet, fruity flavours that are elegant and distinguished. Bottled at 40 per cent.

Bushmills 21-year-old Single Malt

      Bushmill’s top-of-the-range does not disappoint. All the rich, warm notes that define its malt heritage, underpinned by fruit, spice, nuts and toffee. It’s warm and inviting and captures a sense of the indulgence that all premium whiskeys aspire to. After 19 years in oloroso sherry and bourbon casks, the two resulting single malts are combined for an additional two years in Madeira. This combination of three woods creates a delicate marriage that is very satisfying. Bottled at 40 per cent.

Clonakilty Distillery

      CONTACT: Clonakilty Distillery, The Waterfront, Clonakilty, West Cork

      WEBSITE: clonakiltydistillery.ie

      DESCRIPTION: Working distillery, visitor centre, and shop. Tours daily.

      The family-run Clonakilty Distillery is a powerful new engine at the heart of this small County Cork town. This is a place that knows the value of a brand: it’s been the home of the secret-recipe Clonakilty black pudding since the 1880s. The young distillery founded by Michael and Helen Scully is, not surprisingly, ambitious to join its famous older neighbour in the pursuit of perfectly-balanced flavours that take root in the landscape around them.

      The distillery’s story emerges at the point where the ocean meets the land surrounding the Galley Head lighthouse, 200 metres above the sea and a short drive from the town. It’s a dramatic location, with the wind and waves of the wild Atlantic testing each generation of the Scully family that has tried to pull a living from the ground here.

      The family are eighth-generation farmers, who had attempted to diversify their business a number of times before realizing the value of the barley they were growing from earth seeped in Atlantic sea salt and sand. An idea of a craft whiskey captured their imagination, and grew rapidly into a €10 million waterfront distillery in the town and a bonded warehouse on their land at the coast.

      Head distiller Paul Corbett returned to his home county from his role in Teeling Distillery in Dublin to oversee operations, and distilling began in March 2019. As they wait for their own triple-distilled single pot still spirit to mature they have launched the Clonakilty brand using sourced whiskey they have blended and matured.

Clonakilty Single Batch

      This award-winning blend is the first whiskey to emerge under the Clonakilty brand and was finished in its Atlantic warehouse on their land on the coast. It’s a blend of eight-year-old grain and ten-year-old malt whiskey, matured in a bourbon cask, giving it that distinctive oakderived vanilla and caramel layer. It has a spicy finish that lingers, with notes of ginger and cumin. It won Double Gold at the San Francisco Spirits Competition in 2019. Bottled at 43.6 per cent.

Clonakilty Port Cask

      The Port Cask version takes the same eight-year-old grain and ten-year-old malt as the Single Batch but is finished in a port cask, giving it a spicy edge and a rich dark red colour. With no artificial colours or flavours, it is already said to be very popular in the German market. It has that Christmas pudding flavour that chocolate lovers enjoy, with lots of dark fruits and warm lingering flavours. Bottled at 43.6 per cent.