Bushmills 21

[JohnM]

Is there much of a difference between the vintages? What's a particularly good vintage. I can get a 2006 one for around €100, which sounds good to me. Is this a good vintage, does anyone know?

[jcskinner]

I can't say I've ever noticed a difference in the taste, though I haven't sat down with different vintages to do a head-to-head.
I think they're pretty good at maintaining a consistency in the 21 year old up at Bushmills. If you were concerned, you could perhaps aim to avoid the very earliest batches (03), when they would have still perhaps been tinkering a little with it.
Unlike Midleton or JRVR, the Bush 21 yo isn't marketed as a vintage product. My understanding is that they make batches up a little sporadically, in response to demand.
That might have been annually at one point. I suspect it's a little more regular than annual now. Either that or they've upped the production.
100 yoyos for a bottle is a great deal. I've had to order from the US and run the risk of customs siezure or penalties to get it at that sort of price. It's close to 140 quid sterling at the distillery last time I was there.

[JohnM]

Thanks

The vintage date isn't very prominent on it, but it's there. I saw one in the Celtic Whskey Shop today and it was the same, only the 2008 version.

Also, I don't know if this is a good deal or not, but I bought a single cask bushmills bottled for La Maison du Whisky today - it's selling in Fox's in town for 150 euro.

[IainB]

I bought one of hose in Fox's recently too. It think it was distilled in 1990?? I realised when I got home that I'd no idea when it was bottled.

Anyway, I've tried several versions of the 21yo over the years and it's a great whiskey. I think the last bottle I finished was a 2006 and I think €100 is a very good price.

[IrishWhiskeyChaser]

Those earlier single casks are usually between 12-15 years old.

Strangly I also go a single cask today ... I'll pop it up on the recent purchases in a mo

[jcskinner]

Those single casks are hard to rate for value.
You see some for pretty good prices - such as Ally's recent offer of a 13/14 yo @ under 90 euro.
And then you see some pretty stiff ones for very similar bottlings - such as MduW's current 160 euro asking price for a very similar whiskey.
I tend to find all of them very similar, if very good. Most of the bourbon single casks are pretty identical, yet prices can vary by up to 100%. I've seen a little variety in the sherry finished bottlings, which to be honest I prefer. The older you go, the more variation creeps in, but then the prices start getting really silly. As IWC says, the variation is likely due to them being bottled a tad younger.
If you're looking for one of those earliest Bush single cask bottlings, the prices are heading towards 200 euro these days, which in my opinion is just not justified.
Given the choice between another Bush single cask at 100 euro plus or a Bush 21 yo for a similar price, I'd say the 21 yo has to be the value purchase. And I say that as someone with a confirmed single cask Bush addiction.

[JohnM]

Those earlier single casks are usually between 12-15 years old.

Strangly I also go a single cask today ... I'll pop it up on the recent purchases in a mo

Yer man in the shop said this was 16 yrs old, but he may have just gone into the back office and spun around in his chair. I wouldn't be surprised if it was younger.

[IrishWhiskeyChaser]

Those earlier single casks are usually between 12-15 years old.

Strangly I also go a single cask today ... I'll pop it up on the recent purchases in a mo

Yer man in the shop said this was 16 yrs old, but he may have just gone into the back office and spun around in his chair. I wouldn't be surprised if it was younger.

Could very easily be 16yo ... I just noticed that any of single casks I have identified with the older style dark green and dark red (purple) labels were usually around 12-15years old but that is not to say they were not younger or older ones but it really is very hard to get verification of bottle or distill dates if omitted from the label. Similarly with the Tan/Light brown labels I always found them to be between 13-17years.

[IrishWhiskeyChaser]

I think they're pretty good at maintaining a consistency in the 21 year old up at Bushmills. If you were concerned, you could perhaps aim to avoid the very earliest batches (03), when they would have still perhaps been tinkering a little with it.

Possibly an interesting point for people (or maybe not).

Bushmills had a spike in Output in 1980 which because of recession back in the mid 80's to early 90's did not get used and they ended up having a good level of surplus maturing stock. This enabled them to release the modern 16yo version for the first time in 1996 and the first release of the 21year old in 2001.