Bushmills SMWS 51.12 - Pastries and sweet treats

SMWS 51.12 "Pastries & Sweet Treats" Bushmills Distillery 15yrs old Distilled 22nd May 2002 58.9% ABV

I’ve doubled down on tackling my sample box of late, I’ve had success by putting my sessions together around contrast/compare, rather than honing in on a specific expression. With that in mind, when I went in search of a whisky to pit against a 9 yr Hazelburn Barolo cask, I remembered this sample that @talexander graciously provided.

This is a 15 yrs. old Bushmills triple distilled single malt from a first fill ex-bourbon barrel. It was bottled exclusively for the Canadian arm of the SMWS.

Nose: Starts off big all on fruits & jujubes, pineapple, pears, Muscat grapes a touch of talcum. Fresh oak, a slight dusty feeling, with time we get a lot of grain almost a beery lager smell. Finally it gets a bit herbal, lemon zest & thyme.

Palate: Sharp, astringent & mouth drying. Brown sugar, porridge, a touch of beeswax. There's a green almost grassy feeling, lemon lozenges, and a touch of milk chocolate.

Finish: Creamy yogurt, more porridge, coconut oil & Brazil nuts, chili pepper heat & then finishes on astringent lemon pith and eucalyptus.

Notes: Interesting quite the difference between the nose & palate. It’s a big & bold version of Bushmills, that crazy astringency is a bit distracting, I had a similar experience with another Irish single cask from Eilin Lim and it just sucked the moisture right out of your mouth.

I am happy to have the opportunity to try this release as we rarely get access to Bushmills at cask strength or as single casks, it certainly would put an end to all this talk of Irish whisky being “light”.

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