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Bushmills Black Bush Mini (older bottling at 43%)

2 Black Bush Minis - Part 2 of 2

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@talexanderReview by @talexander

10th Jul 2016

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Bushmills Black Bush Mini (older bottling at 43%)
  • Nose
    20
  • Taste
    21
  • Finish
    21
  • Balance
    19
  • Overall
    81

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Distribution of ratings for this: brand user

Now let's look at the 43% Black Bush mini, which is also older but (and I'm guessing here) a little more recent than the 40% mini I just reviewed.

The colour is a medium gold (perhaps a shade darker than the 40% mini I just reviewed, but not as dark as today's version). Rather fruity on the nose with underripe bananas, papaya, rum raisin and milk chocolate. Traces of sherried oak. The malt content seems pretty strong. A bit too young and spirity; unfortunately, water doesn't do much. Interesting but could have more oomph.

On the palate it seems quite young, but with a malty sweetness, plus more underripe bananas and a slight hint of peat. The higher ABV seems more apparent on the palate than on the nose. Liquorice all-sorts and cotton candy. Even maltier with water. Rather nice, but still too young.

The finish is a little chalky, with buttered raisin bread and some mouth-pulling tannins. The slightly higher ABV has improved things, and this is a bit richer than the 40% mini I just reviewed. But it still doesn't hit the depth of the current bottling. What is interesting is that I am getting the sense that there is more malt in these minis than in the current blend, which intuitively might make you think that they must be better; but that is not the case at all. So rare that an older bottling is inferior to a current bottling! Though I detect less malt in today's version, its richness really comes through (though the older versions seem slightly peated). Maybe the older minis were made before Diageo purchased the distillery; if so, then for once they are doing something right.

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4 comments

@Victor
Victor commented

@talexander, congratulations on your review # 400! That's a lot of whisk(e)y!

As for Black Bush, I don't think I've ever tasted any from the 'old days'. I like the more recent Black Bush quite a lot.

8 years ago 0

@talexander
talexander commented

Holy crap, I had no idea! 400?? What is wrong with me????

8 years ago 0

@Nozinan
Nozinan commented

In no way minimizing your contribution to this site @tAlexander, I would simply make note of the fact that when I sort members by reviews, the number listed for me is different from the number listed on my profile, which is again different from the actual number of reviews IN my profile....

8 years ago 0

@talexander
talexander commented

Well, I can't be bothered to double check. As they say in my industry, I'll employ some "creative accounting"...

8 years ago 0