Batch 188

Quite sweet, hitting a balance between ice cream soda, stewed apple, pink rhubarb jam on white bread and light raspberry. With water, it becomes blossom-fresh with a clear fruity-floral character. Although there’s a green, nettley youth, it has style.

Immediately sweet but not too hot, showing the cask is already coming into play. There’s even the start of some interactive maturation going on, locking in vanilla and lemon sorbet to the flowers and light fruits. Water opens it up nicely and though there is a firmer edge, there’s sufficient pink fruit and softness in the middle of the tongue to balance. In time, you get mint, rose and tangerine with surprising length that steadily moves to sweet mixed nuts.

Here’s some unripe fruits (green apple and hard pear). Drying.

Has struck a balance already and has an assured presence. Marked in its competitive set.

Hurrah! Another week and More Whisky.

Good extract, with a moist maltiness, reminiscent of Soreen malt loaf with thick butter (is there any other way?) and a reprise of the floral fruitiness seen on the ex-Bourbon. In time, some classic Dundee cake, with decent weight and some grapefruit lift. Eventually you get some light spearmint, then sweet spices as the malt moves towards nuttiness given a sweet lick by blackberry jam. There’s a tiny hint of sulphur when water’s added, then comes violet, Darjeeling tea and a green, vegetal element.

Quite thick for one so young. The mid-palate suppleness seen in the ex-Bourbon casks is here as well. While there is that green olive twang of a young Sherried whisky, there’s added gingerbread, dark chocolate and the start of some structure. Water shows it’s still a sum of its parts: assertive acidity, light cereal, oak and fruit, all of which are starting to cohere.

Black fruits.

Less forward than the Bourbon, but good. While there’s a sense of elements knitting together, it’s that mid-palate richness which is important. This is where things will resolve themselves and spread out. I’ve a hunch that Sherry might be an ideal match here.

Has the sweetness of Blackberry Brandy.

That sweet distillate once again, this time with quite powerful woodsmoke, showing moss and garden bonfire (burning grass clippings) building on the vegetal notes seen in the unpeated examples. It needs time and water to open and it shows some gentle pulpy fruit with the smoke, initially, pulled in a little. You get some of the putty notes which can be common to young smoky whiskies, but it’s balanced by the spirit’s inherent sweetness.

Light, green, smoky (mezcal-esque) tones with some pepperiness, then roasted cereal, given a central weight with cream and syrup pudding. Water brings out more of the woodsmoke, then rhubarb and hazelnut topping.

Dry initially. Smoke galore, then some fruit.

There an effortless sassiness here. Young and fresh. While it needs time, it’s a great marker.

Chilling with a Cool Smoke.

Initially, there is less overt smokiness. Rather, you get an inkiness and a mix of powdered sandalwood, malt, hazelnut butter and a note of furniture polish, which usually only appears in more mature examples. Already showing balance and integration. Water actually adds richness and depth, with the smoke now beginning to comment subtly with the developing red and black fruitiness.

This is picked up on the palate where the (light) smoke initially hangs back, allowing a dried fruit base to be established, before surging clear from the mid-palate onwards. Again there’s a mid-palate softness adding in ripe berry fruits, some malt. Balanced.

Chocolate bitters, then smoke.

More expressive and coherent than the ex-Bourbon. This is clearly a distillery which already knows its own mind. Impressive.

A distillery that’s Coming in Hot.

A mix of creaminess and estery fruits: pears galore, green grass, then mint and chocolate chip ice cream. After, you get creamed butter, sweet melon and pineapple, while water stirs in apple Danish and a fresher, more floral element. It holds well, though there’s no great secondary development. Rather gorgeous.

A sweet start with lots of elderflower, light ginger and lemon, then head-cleansing mintiness. It sticks and spreads in the mid-palate, giving overall balance and complexity, then releases a burst of peachy fruits. Mouthfilling, subtle but rounded. The back palate has yuzu-like bright acidity.

Almond milk, gentle fruit, light cinnamon.

An utterly charming dram and a classic example of Aultmore.

Listen, I can hear the Spring Birds singing.

There’s hefty colour here and a slightly smoky (char rather than peat) element, then a soft, rich unfolding of red velvet cake and light nuttiness. You get manuka honey, the Medjool dates, cumin and coriander seed. It’s cask driven, but not woody. There’s more burnt sugar when water’s added along with mace, light nut, fresh peach and a tiny, pine-like sappiness with more of the char.

Immediately rich, with this exotic sweetness of spiced honey and a pleasing bitter orange twang. It deepens towards the centre: wet walnut and fig jam turn up as the tongue is steadily glazed with honey and light sultana, with orchard fruit. Water doesn’t disturb the balance. Marmalade on warm toast and while the oak means it firms up at the back, there’s good length.

The impact lessens slightly as the oak comes through strongly.

Bushmills is an amenable whiskey, able to wriggle itself into all manner of oaked settings. This is a vatting of American and ex-Sherry matured whiskies married in acacia wood – maybe it’s this unusual (for whiskey) cask type where the exotic elements come from. Wonder what a 100% acacia-matured whiskey would be like? Great to see Bushmills back and firing. 

Relaxing under my Fig Tree.