Nose: Apples! Pears! Bright shiny unmalted barley - begorrah, we're back in Ireland again. Ahem, sorry. Over time the nose settles into a nutty, soft oak and subtle sherry character which is pretty nice. Warm and well balanced with red berries coming to the fore, it's a very relaxing and attractive nose. As it rests, several container loads of vanilla appear and later dark fruits and raisins are noticed. Palate: Sweet and mildly spicy arrival with an excellently balanced cereal, malt and dark fruit character. The development is an interesting intensification of the arrival - everything seems to become a shade darker, richer and more malty and the presence of some good quality sherry casks is apparent. Hazelnuts and chocolate praline appear and you can taste the presence of the port pipes through the rich red, plummy berry flavours that permeate the spirit. Not bad - not bad at all. The texture is slightly creamy and dulcet. Finish: Medium/short. The dominant malty personality fades into a berry and chocolate aftertase. There is a brown sugar/treacle note coating the mouth that lasts and lasts. This is the first Bushmills whiskey I've tasted that I really liked. No only did I like it, I would consider buying a bottle for the luxurious profile if nothing else. This is several light years ahead of the banal Bushmills 10. Apart from the entire orchard of apples in every bottle of both you can barely sense that the two expressions are from the same distillery. I could happily adopt this as a nightcap dram. I get absolutely no smoke on this whisky at all. I'm not sure where other folks are finding it. Maybe the slightest hint of barrel char? At the asking price this is good value, and one of the few Irish whiskies at this price point that I'd consider buying instead of a Scottish single malt. Tasted from a 30ml sampler. "Very Good" : 85/100 (4 stars)