Whiskey_Hound
Bushmills Black Bush
Blended — Ireland
Reviewed
March 8, 2020 (edited October 16, 2020)
Ah, Bushmills. The proverbial forgotten middle brother of the major Irish whiskey trio. On par with Jameson and Tully, and at times, the best of the three. Yet it gets a fraction of the love and repute. Here, we have the Black Bush, which is basically Bushmill's answer to Jameson Black Barrel. Let's see how it stacks up.
Nose: Big on the fruit. Pear, apple, strawberry, raspberry, and orange. Vanilla, honey, frosting, malt, and toffee. A sweet one for sure, with very pronounced sherry notes. More malty than grainy, but I'm still getting some of the cereal notes. Shortbread cookie; an Irish standard. Slightly metallic. Not a trace of alcohol.
Palate: More fruit. Pear, apple, apricot, and orange. Still some of the red fruit. Cranberry, raspberry, strawberry. More of the vanilla, honey, and frosting. Some caramel and graham cracker. Shortbread cookie, malt and toffee. Walnut, cashew, and almond. Still slightly metallic, but it's even less prevalent here. Some cinnamon and baking spice.
Finish: Fairly short. Red fruit lingers, until it is replaced by cinnamon, baking spices, and oak. Oak presence is at its strongest during the finish. And it's over in a flash.
I've always liked this one. I think this one can go toe-to-toe with Jameson Black Barrel. At every level. And it's a few bucks cheaper to boot. Both are decent, youngish, sherry cask-aged Irish whiskies that are easy on the wallet.
Like the Black Barrel, this gets a 3.5 for me. At $35, it's a solid value. Other than the low ABV, short finish, and slight metallic notes, there's a lot to like here. It's sweet, easy-drinking Irish blend that seems to me to have a respectable malt-to-grain ratio. Good offering from Bushmills. Keep these guys in mind as St. Paddy's Day draws near.
35.0
USD
per
Bottle
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@crate101 Thank you! Glad to have helped! @WhiskeyLonghorn I missed your comment back then, and now since months later, your statement couldn't be true. I recently found the 16 year at $86 (last on the shelf) and now I don't see it south of $110, which seems to be the new standard
Great review on this one. You actually dialed me in on some characteristics I was chasing down.
@Whiskey_Hound agreed. I’ve never seen it lower that $90 here, which isnt unreasonable for that age and casking, bit lately it runs around $110 because of the tariffs.
@WhiskeyLonghorn Totally agreed--though I'll say that the 16 varies pretty heavily in price. I've seen it from $65 all the way up to $140. Obviously the latter is ludicrous, but anything between $65-$80 seems fair for that one
@Whiskey_Hound when you’re looking at price vs. value with Bushmills, this is the sweet spot. The 10 year single malt isnt bad, just overpriced for what it is, and the 16 and 21 just have silly prices. At around $30, this one checks all the boxes for me.
@Drew-P-Wiener Lol I don't know man. I think the sherry barrels add quite a bit to the bland and metallic white label. Not saying this is a stellar whiskey put I think there's enough to unpack where it's worth the buying every now and again
There is no way you can get all those notes from this whiskey. I find it bland at best. You’re clearly several levels above me - which I’m envious of.
@WhiskeyLonghorn Thanks man! I've had it open for about 6 weeks now. I'd say it's been significantly reduced. I'll keep an eye on how it progresses as I work through it
I found that the metallic note dissipates after a week or so of the bottle being open, bringing more of the "nice" grain whiskey notes to the front. Cheers. A fine pick for St. Paddy's.