Bushmills Black Bush

According to the Bushmills website, Black Bush is composed of 80% malt whisky, and aged up to 7 years in bourbon and Oloroso sherry casks. Gotta love it when distillers give you actual info on their products.

The aroma is gentle and fruity, with hints of Mandarin orange. Also a slight sourness. Not very expressive but not uninviting either.

On the palate it gets much more interesting. Sweet right off the bat, with a hard bite from the grain whiskey. The crisp, fruity sweetness of triple-distilled Irish malt is evident in the flavour of apricot. Sometimes I get a note of bubblegum, though not on this tasting. The whiskey is fairly light on the tongue but has a nice prickly spiciness to it. No mistaking that this is Irish whiskey. Sherry casks give it an extra sense of richness but by no means dominates the taste. Repeated sipping brings notes of chocolate.

It finishes sweet and toasty, with no funny sour flavours. The finish is quite short.

Overall, a very pleasant, easy-drinking whiskey with a great range of flavours that dance across the tongue. The rich malt taste balances nicely against the spicy grain, all held together by good cask selection. A definite step up from the standard Irish fare.

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