Bushmill's 21 vs Midleton Very Rare

No, I have Middleton Rare and hope to get the Bushmills 21 Year Old soon, but if you compare Middleton with Bushmills 16 (Bushmills 16 and Black Bush are my current favs from there), its two completely different whiskies. Middleton has that dry, pear, fruit flavour with a long finish, whereas Bushmills is like honey with fruits and vanilla on the tongue. Love 'em both. The Middleton Rare wins out slightly for me. For price you can't walk past Bushmills 16 or Black Bush though.

Funnily enough I don't like Jamesons much either, but love Middleton.

Interesting! I'll add it to the list. Thanks for the feedback NoElf!

@rwbenjey, you've probably tried, and maybe even gone through bottles of both of these whiskeys by now. From what I've seen, Midleton Very Rare is pretty batch variable. It can be great or not so great according to the batch. That concerns me for an expensive bottle, if I am thinking about getting some. I would want to sample the exact batch before buying. Bushmills 21 is a whiskey of stunning beauty, but it is very gentle at 40% ABV...not so great a choice for the big flavours crowd, plus it would be unbelievably easy to go through a bottle quickly if you let yourself do so.

I've only had the Bushmill's 16 once, and I really don't put it remotely into the same league as Bushmills 21. Unless I get more samples of Bushmills 16 that I like a whole lot more than what I've had, I don't expect that I will ever want to buy a bottle of it. I would hope to never be without a bottle of Bushmills 21, on the other hand. Bushmills 21 is pretty pricey, though, especially in Europe. Of course, so is Midleton's Very Rare.

It is all about the Midleton Very Rare. It is a great, if over-priced, whiskey. Also, Midleton Bary Crockett Legacy is fantastic pure pot still whiskey, and Jameson Rarest Vintage is the easiest drinking whiskey that has ever crossed my lips. Bushmills has never impressed me.

Bushmill's 21 for me. Very refined and balanced. Like Victor mentioned, Midleton's is variable. It also seems ridiculously priced for a blended Irish whisk(e)y. It makes me wonder how rare it actually is. But that's just my preference. I love Bushmill's products.

@StevieC : Agreed! I finally got to try Midleton at a whisky bar, but the Bushmills beat it out. Don't get me wrong, it was good, but not as good. For $99, Bushmills 21 is definitely a staple now.