Graduation

[Pickone]

Hi Folks,

I'm graduating from Medical School in Dublin (hopefully) in a few months, and I want to buy a bottle of whiskey to commemorate the occasion and start my collection. I'm a frequent drinker and have sampled many along the way, but I've never owned a bottle of real value myself!

So far I'm thinking of getting Bushmills. I think I want to buy a single malt, and I'm an ulster man myself so I feel it's my duty! I just have a couple of questions:

I want to buy a bottle in relation to 1990, the year I was born. I have found a bottle of original that was bottled in 1990, but I was considering the 21 year old single malt that was bottled in 2001 (ie. 1990 aged) as I imagine it will be a much more enjoyable whiskey and worthy of the price tag. Would you agree with the 21?

Also - anyone want to make a claim for the merits of a different bottle? I'm open to suggestions!

Thanks for any opinions, all advice appreciated!

[Fionnán]

hey there,

as a former bushmills rep let me be the first to say that the 21 is one of the classiest single malts around bar none. If you're looking for whiskeys from an Ulster stable as it were, keep in mind that the Teeling single malts are also drawn from stocks of Bushmills that they bought to keep them going until their own distillery is producing mature whiskey. Much of this "teeling" bushmills whiskey is double rather than tripple distilled so it tastes rather different and the Teeling distiller Alex has played around with the casks it's finished in. If you cant find a 21 year old BM distilled in 1990, the teeling range might give you some other options to search through and all the stuff they've bottled so far has been first class

[Good Whiskey Hunting]

Good thinking with the Teelings whiskeys.

They just won Best Irish single malt and Worlds Best Grain whiskey. I'm not sure if they date to 1990 but it's worth looking at.

Best wishes with the studies, Doc. You should treat yourself to a society tasting upon graduating.

[Pickone]

Yea teelings was actually the first port of call, it's been a family favourite, but their 21yr old was first distilled in 1991, so whilst it's probably an exceptional bottle it loses sway a little.

Thanks for the replys, the more I've looked into it the more I see pot-stills being a firm favourite, at least amongst the various forums here. Luckily I've a few months to make up my mind and I plan on getting plenty of sampling done in the few weeks between my exams finishing and my graduation!

[IrishWhiskeyChaser]

The 21yo (Bottled 2001) is possibly your best bet. A lovely drinkable whiskey that you will certainly enjoy. So if you can find that vintage it is possibly the easiest choice in Bushmills.

The 21yo was actually released for the very first time in 2001 and the year should be near the base of the label just above the individual bottle number.

Of course you have to accept that there may also be slightly older whiskies used in the bottling also and the 21 years tag refers to the youngest aged wghiskey used.

I used to own quite a lot of single cask Bushmills and on review of my (ex) inventory I could only see one from 1990.

It was a release from la maison Du Whiskey in France and a welknown online retailer.

Cask No 4649. Bourbon Cask Bottled at 57.5%. Probably cost you well over €250 at this stage.