Bushmills Core Malts Tasting | Belfast Whiskey Week 2021

There are few better ways to begin a festival week than by going back to the source — and at Belfast Whiskey Week 2021, Session 2 did exactly that. On the afternoon of 30th July, whiskey lovers near and far sat down with three beautifully measured 50ml samples of Bushmills Core Malts, glasses in hand, ready to let Ireland's oldest licensed distillery do the talking. It was an introduction in name, but in spirit — uisce beatha and otherwise — it felt like a homecoming.

Filed: 30 Jul 2021
By: Belfast Whiskey Week
Read: 3 min
Ref: BWW/21/964

About This Event

This tasting includes 3 x 50ml Samples & Glass and will take place on the 30th @ 14:00.

This tasting comprises of:

10yr Single Malt
16yr Single Malt
21yr Single Malt

For those in the USA, Australia, Sweden, Europe, the Republic of Ireland or Northern Ireland, you will be able to save on delivery costs by having your package to sent to a localised depot for collection. You will be charged a small fee upon collection, but the cost will be much cheaper than having packs delivered to individual addresses. If you would like to avail of this option, please make a note in the Special Instructions box, and we will contact you at a later date to arrange this and refund your delivery charges.

Looking Back

Old Bushmills Distillery sits on the north Antrim coast like it has always known it belonged there, the River Bush running past its walls as it has since long before the 1608 licence that gave the place its claim to history. That sense of duchas — of belonging to a place and a people — runs through the core range like a thread of copper through a still. The three expressions tasted in this session — the 10 Year, 16 Year and 21 Year Single Malts — offered attendees a rare chance to follow that thread from beginning to a very distinguished end.

The 10 Year is where most people meet Bushmills properly for the first time, and it rarely disappoints. Light and honeyed, with the signature triple-distilled smoothness that defines the house style, it arrived in the glass like a gentle handshake — friendly, assured, and worth getting to know better. The 16 Year stepped things up considerably: three wood types, including Oloroso sherry casks and bourbon barrels, had worked their slow alchemy across sixteen patient years, producing something noticeably richer and more complex. Tasters noted dried fruit, warming spice, and a depth that rewards a few moments of quiet attention.

Then came the 21 Year — and for many, this was the session's quiet revelation. Madeira casks finish this expression, and their influence is unmistakable: a lingering sweetness, layers of walnut and dark chocolate, and a finish long enough to make you forget what you were about to say next. It's a whiskey that earns its age gracefully, and tasting all three expressions in sequence made the journey from 10 to 21 years feel genuinely meaningful rather than merely incremental. For those who wanted to go deeper into the Bushmills story, the Session 83: Bushmills History MasterClass offered a fuller account of the distillery's remarkable past, while the Session 23: Bushmills Cask Strength Mini-MasterClass gave bolder palates something considerably more forthright to consider.

What made this introductory session particularly well-suited to BWW 2021's hybrid, globally distributed format was its accessibility. Sample packs travelled to depots across the USA, Australia, Sweden, Europe, and both parts of Ireland, meaning the tasting table stretched from Bushmills itself to living rooms on several continents. There's something quietly powerful about that — the seanchas of an Antrim distillery shared simultaneously across so many tíortha. Whiskey, as it turns out, travels well. If you're curious about the broader Bushmills offering that featured throughout the festival week, the Session 1: Bushmills New Cask Finish Range made for an excellent companion piece, exploring where the distillery is looking next.

At £20 for three samples and a glass, Session 2 offered genuine value — not just financially, but in terms of understanding. This was whiskey education without the stiffness of a lecture: a relaxed, expertly curated afternoon that gave attendees a solid footing in one of Irish whiskey's most important ranges. For anyone still finding their way around the island's distilleries and their stories, our Whiskey Map is a fine place to continue the journey. Sláinte.