Bushmills Black Bush Review

Black Bush is the second of the blends in the core range at Bushmills. It is often referred to as a 'blend deluxe' in tastings at the distillery due to the high malt content in its composition. It is comprised of 80% malt that has been matured in Spanish Oloroso sherry casks, the other 20% of its composition is grain whiskey. It is also aged for at least 8 years. You can read the distillery description at www.bushmills.com.



The composition, maturation and age of this blend really do make it stand out against other similarly priced blends be they Scottish or Irish. So how does it taste? Lets see....

Colour:

Amber

Nose:

Malt aroma initially with banana, brown sugar, peach and the grain spirit just hiding in the background.

Palate:

Initially quite sweet, a hint of orange peel, vanilla, caramel, winter spices and a slight heat at the back of the tongue.

Finish:

Medium. Palate drys nicely with hints of oak, milk chocolate, stewed apples and cinnamon. There is a slight bitterness at the end maybe from casks used once too often?

Overall:

Black Bush, although still having quite a thin mouthfeel is a major improvement over the Bushmills Original. The flavours are balanced and match in with the nose. The house malt spirit shines through well. This bottling does have a slight bitterness to the finish that I don't remember tasting before, I suspect Bushmills could be trying to eek out every last bit of flavour from their casks and instead end up with too much oak and tannin. Anyway, this is still an excellent whiskey for the money and very much a 'go to' dram for me. Easy drinking & it's versatile too, excellent neat but also good for cocktails or long drinks (personally i prefer it neat, use the Original for the cocktails).

Black Bush sets a high standard for blends at the price point (around £22-24 per bottle) and is very much a bottle that I try to keep in my cabinet at all times.

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