Bushmills Sherry Cask Reserve - Steamship Collection Single Malt Whiskey

Product Information

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On the nose, it's apple. Baked apple, fresh apple, calvados. Some orange peel. I also get quite bit from the sherry cask: chocolate, ripened grapes, wood. I'm quite impressed so far. Nose: Harmonious - rich, sweet and woody. Very fruity - bananas foster and french toast. Cinnamon, caramelised brown sugar and vanilla ice cream. Now the tropical fruit notes of pineapple, mangos and fresh apricots. A definite cherry note too with a hint of eucalyptus. Dark chocolate with dried fruit and orange zest. Water brings out a little more nuttiness - crushed walnuts with marzipan making an appearance too. As someone who doesn’t have extensive experience with Bushmills, a part of me wonders how good they really are, and whether their being the second best-known Irish whisky brand is well-deserved or simply due to being one of the Irish whisky brands for a long time. Yes, there is more competition now. But is there really a formula to find out how long it will take for the new brands to catch up to the reputation the older brands have? Whiskybase B.V. (“Whiskybase”, “we” or “us”, company details below) offers a whisky enthusiasts online platform that provides its members access to the most comprehensive, transparent and trusted resource of whisky bottles and allows and stimulates its members to contribute information about whisky bottles to the platform (“Service”).

Conclusions:

Continuing in my st-paddy's day's theme I went to my favorite liquor store and bought a bottle of 10 years old bushmills. I usually go for the 1608 original bush, but felt like going a bit older this time. Palate (undiluted): light arrival, floral, honey, milk chocolate, a touch of salted butter, more apples Firstly, this was mentioned to be an Asia-exclusive release. So, this is different from the Bushmills 12 Year Old Distillery Reserve which was reviewed by Phil before. According to Phil’s review, the Distillery Reserve is fully aged in ex-oloroso sherry casks, but this Asia exclusive is aged in three types of wood (ex-bourbon, ex-sherry and ex-marsala). Sherry, dark fruit, nuts, toffee, char, spice, honey, cocoa and a bit of citrus and raisiny dark fruit. This 12 Year Old doesn’t speak to me. It feels like the three types of wood are clashing, resulting in this whisky’s smells and tastes being muted. There aren’t any offensive flavors here. But it’s disappointing and annoying to know this whisky has more things to offer but you can’t gain access to it. Letting this breathe for 20 more minutes didn’t help it change.

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These expressions also just highlight to me how well Bushmills spirit goes with fortified wine casks. Bushmills solely done in bourbon casks even at cask strength never really got my juices flowing but show them some sherry, madeira, port or malaga wine and it bursts into life. Nose (undiluted): honeycrisp apples, cloves, cinnamon, an aroma reminiscent of sewing machine oil (it’s pleasant, I promise)

Nose: Big, bold aromas of rich fruitcake and the intense sherry sweetness characteristic of Pedro Ximénez casks A few of the more interesting things I learned about Bushmills: the name comes from the River Bush. They also use 100% Irish Malted Barley. Their barrel entry proof is 85%, which is something I’m not too fond of, as the spirit can over-extract the cask’s flavors. We are committed to maintaining our iconic taste and quality as we continue to bring our signature smooth Bushmills Irish Whiskey to new and existing consumers around the world.” Water makes the whiskey a bit more “cereal-forward” with some porridge notes and Nilla wafers taking center stage. Lovely either way, but I prefer it neat. Finish: Short. Longer than other Bushmills (notice the repeating refrain?), but still not very long by the standards of other all-sherry cask-aged whiskies. A simple persistent sweetness lasts the longest.

Malt, cocoa, sherry, dark fruit, spice, honey, nuts, ash and a light bit of citrus, vanilla and shortcake. On the palate, the initial hit is quite balanced: neither too sweet, nor too dry. But then, it starts to develop. You get the sweetness of malt and corn, that turns into something like milk chocolate, then strawberry, then classic malt. Finally we get the wood notes of spices and a touch of corn and flowers.