Bushmills Irish Whiskey has announced a landmark redesign of its Black Bush bottle, marking the first packaging evolution for the iconic blend in almost two decades. The new premium bottle will begin rolling out in the UK, Spain, and Poland from June 2026, with Ireland and the US to follow later that year.
The redesign introduces a taller silhouette with broader shoulders, sharper angles, and an exposed wooden cork closure. A transparent neck sleeve replaces the previous opaque black wrap, lending the bottle what the brand describes as greater openness and elegance.
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Design details draw heavily on the Old Bushmills Distillery’s proximity to the Giant’s Causeway on Northern Ireland’s North Antrim coast. A hexagonal punt at the base mirrors the Causeway’s famous basalt columns, while angular labels contour the bottle’s sharp exterior edges. Premium embossing of the Bushmills pot still emblem at the shoulder is a new addition not found on the previous bottle.
The move follows Bushmills’ 2021 single malt relaunch and aims to create a unified visual identity across the portfolio. Black Bush shares the single malt bottle’s hexagonal base and embossed heritage iconography but features a slimmer, taller form.
Colum Egan, master distiller at Old Bushmills Distillery, said: "For me, Black Bush is a whiskey masterpiece — triple distilled smoothness, nutty sweetness and a softness from the sherry casks that together fascinate the palate. Nothing about the whiskey has changed, but the way it shows itself to the world has. The team at Encirc, who crafted the glass, were invaluable in translating that heritage into something stunning and premium and I’m proud to see it presented in a way that truly matches what’s in the bottle."
Bushmills has grown at approximately 8% compound over the past five years and recently became the number two Irish whiskey by value globally, according to IWSR 2025 data. Irish whiskey as a category has seen compound annual growth of 9% in value and 7% in volume over the same period.
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Muiris Ó Riada, international marketing director at Proximo Spirits, said: "Black Bush has grown steadily for years on the strength of its liquid alone. With this redesign, we’re giving it the platform it has always deserved — a bottle that announces itself on shelf, that tells a story, and that gives our trade partners around the world a compelling reason to champion it. This is Bushmills investing seriously in its blended heart, and the beginning of a much bigger chapter for Black Bush globally."
Black Bush won gold at the Irish Whiskey Awards 2025. Official tasting notes from the brand describe the blend as combining "a high proportion of single malt whiskey matured in former Oloroso sherry casks, blended with a sweet, batch-distilled grain whiskey," yielding "rich, fruity notes and a deep intense character, balanced by an exceptionally smooth finish."
Full global availability for the new bottle is expected by early 2027. The Old Bushmills Distillery, established in 1608, holds the distinction of being the world’s oldest licensed whiskey distillery.
