Bushmills Releases 30 Year Old New American Oak Cask Finished Irish Single Malt

Bushmills Irish Whiskey recently announced the limited release of its 30 Year Old New American Oak Cask Finished Irish single malt (48.4% ABV).

Exclusive to The Irish Whiskey Collection at Ireland’s Dublin and Cork airports as a global travel retail offering, this release stands as the highest aged reference so far in The Causeway Collection, a series of extremely rare and unique cask finished single malt whiskeys from what’s noted as the world’s oldest licensed whiskey distillery.

The whiskey was first matured for 14 years in Oloroso sherry butts and bourbon barrels, before moving to new American oak casks to finish for another 16 years. Bottled at cask strength, official tasting notes speak of aromas of rich vanilla, wood spice and tropical fruit lead into a taste of vanilla, chocolate, spiced coconut and a note of warm wood. A finish of toasted oak and vanilla complete the drink.

All the whiskeys used in The Causeway Collection have been crafted and cared for by Bushmills Master Blender Helen Mulholland throughout her career at The Old Bushmills Distillery. Mulholland was the first woman to be inducted into the Whisky Magazine Hall of Fame, before being awarded a Chairman’s Award by Drinks Ireland/Irish Whiskey Association for her contribution to the development of the Irish whiskey industry and category.

“I’m immensely proud of how we’ve been able to create such sensational waves of flavor in a 30-year-old whiskey,” Mulholland said in a prepared statement about the new contribution. “Like the whole Causeway Collection, it’s a celebration of our passion for single malts, our rare and unique casks, and our 400 years of whiskey-making heritage.”

With only 100 bottles available in 2020 and the remaining 332 bottles to follow in 2021 (432 in total), the 30 Year Old New American Oak Cask Finished Irish Single Malt is non-chill filtered and pricing around €700, or about $855 USD.