My Cuppa Irish Tea: From Grain to Glass at Old Bushmills Distillery

Bushmills is a cute little village that is on the northern coast of Ireland. The name comes from the Bush River and the large watermill that was built there in the 17th century. The town of course is known best for the Old Bushmills Distillery that has created a name for itself all over the world.

Bushmills

The Old Bushmills Distillery is the oldest licensed distillery in the world. It was registered in 1784, but earlier history traces it back to an operation "of smugglers" in 1743, and a license to distill granted in 1608 to a landowner Thomas Phillips by King James I.

The word whiskey comes from the Gaelic word "uisce beatha", meaning water of life. It is believed that the Irish monks brought the technique of distilling back to Ireland from their travels to the mediterranean countries around 1000AD. The Irish then modified this technique to obtain a drinkable spirit.

Bushmills is the only "grain to glass" distillery in Ireland and one of the few in the world. Each step of the process takes place on the distillery site. There are only three ingredients needed to make whiskey - grain, yeast, and Irish water.

Joe, M, and the two older children took the whiskey tour. They would not allow L on the tour because she was too young so I stayed back with her. Funny though that they still let the 10 and 8 year olds on the tour. L had a complete melt down when she had to be separated from Joe on the tour. She is such a daddy's girl when Joe is around. After she calmed down we just went on a walk around the grounds and village. Then we went into the tasting room where they had a little cafe. We ordered lunch and then waited for the others to finish their tour.

Most Irish pot still whiskey is distilled three times, while most Scotch whiskey, is distilled twice. Irish whiskey was once the most popular spirit in the world but had a strong decline in the 19th century.

Joe and M got a sample of whiskey and K and T got a tiny bottle of soda after the tour. T had a tiny taste of the whiskey where it barely wet his lips. Unfortunately he liked it! Ohh no! The rest of the gang finished lunch and then we hit the gift shop. Joe picked up two bottles of whiskey that you can only get at the distillery in Ireland.