Latest news with #Bushmills
Irish Post
29-05-2025
- Business
- Irish Post
Irish hotel launches exclusive ‘appointment only' whiskey tasting flight costing over £1k
A NEWLY opened Irish hotel has launched a whiskey tasting flight which can only be enjoyed by appointment and costs a whopping £1,608. Harbourview Hotel in Co. Antrim describes itself as a 'destination whiskey hotel'. Adrian McLaughlin is co-owner of the Harbourview Hotel in Carnlough This week it has announced its Bushmills Whiskey tasting flight with Darryl McNally, who is the co-owner of the hotel and a former Bushmills master distiller. The selection on offer features some of the oldest and rarest whiskeys from the world's oldest licensed whiskey distillery, including four iconic Bushmills whiskeys. The Harbourview 1608 Tasting Flight costs £1,608 And the £1,608 price of the experience is a nod to the year 1608, when Bushmills was awarded its license to distil. 'As Ireland's first ever destination whiskey hotel, we pride ourselves on offering the finest collection of whiskeys, alongside exceptional events and experiences,' Harbourview Hotel co-owner Adrian McLaughlin said. 'To celebrate the opening, we wanted to create something special, and we're proud to present this exclusive whiskey flight in tribute to the iconic Old Bushmills Distillery, which is located just 40 miles from the hotel on our beautiful Causeway Coast,' he explained. 'This exclusive tasting flight will be an experience to savour for whiskey connoisseurs that might not otherwise get the opportunity to taste such rare whiskeys. 'It is offered alongside a core collection of 11 flights, with prices ranging from £15 to £40, and a special 'Owners Collection' of rare whiskeys priced at £570, meaning there is a flight to suit every budget.' The exclusive tasing flight is an 'appointment only' experience The hotel's 'off menu' 1608 Whiskey Flight is bookable by appointment only and includes two of the oldest and rarest bottles ever to be released from the Old Bushmills Distillery: Bushmills 46 Year Old Secrets of the River Bush, which was released in March 2025, and the Bushmills 36 Year Old Hill Street Edition, which was released in February 2024. There are also two rare whiskeys from the Bushmills Causeway Collection, a 33-year-old port cask and 18-year-old Grand Cru cask. With only 20 1608 flights available, the hotel says it will be a 'once-in-a-lifetime experience for whiskey connoisseurs'. The hotel has also announced thay it will donate one 1608 whiskey flight and overnight stay to the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) for use in their ongoing fundraising activities to support their work. The hotel, located in Carnlough, near Ballymena, opened to guests earlier this month. See More: Antrim, Ballymena, Bushmills, Harbourview Hotel, Whiskey Flight
Belfast Telegraph
28-05-2025
- Business
- Belfast Telegraph
Newly opened NI hotel offering £1,608 ‘once-in-a-lifetime' whiskey tasting experience
It has been created at what is described as Ireland's first ever destination whiskey hotel on the Co Antrim coastline. The newly opened Harbourview Hotel in Carnlough has curated the Bushmills Whiskey tasting experience with Darryl McNally, co-owner of the hotel and former Bushmills master distiller. The £1,608 'flight' – a tasting experience that allows the chance to sample different whiskeys without ordering several different glasses – was priced in tribute to the year that Bushmills was awarded its licence to distil. Just 20 flights are available, leading to the hotel describing it as a 'once-in-a-lifetime experience for whiskey connoisseurs'. Among the whiskeys featured are two of the oldest and rarest bottles ever to be released from the Old Bushmills Distillery – Bushmills 46 Year Old Secrets of the River Bush and the Bushmills 36 Year Old Hill Street Edition, alongside two rare whiskeys from the Bushmills Causeway Collection, a 33-year-old port cask and 18-year-old Grand Cru cask. It is being launched just ahead of The Open returning to Portrush this summer when visitors are due to flock to Northern Ireland. Harbourview Hotel co-owner Adrian McLaughlin said whiskey will be an integral part of the hotel, from resident nightcaps and a turndown gift of whiskey-infused chocolates to a special 'Whiskey Chamber' retail store. The hotel bar will serve a collection of more than 300 whiskeys, and a classic selection of whiskey cocktails. 'As Ireland's first ever destination whiskey hotel, we pride ourselves on offering the finest collection of whiskeys, alongside exceptional events and experiences,' he said. 'To celebrate the opening, we wanted to create something special, and we're proud to present this exclusive whiskey flight in tribute to the iconic Old Bushmills Distillery, which is located just 40 miles from the hotel on our beautiful Causeway Coast. 'This exclusive tasting flight will be an experience to savour for whiskey connoisseurs that might not otherwise get the opportunity to taste such rare whiskeys. 'It is offered alongside a core collection of 11 flights, with prices ranging from £15 to £40, and a special 'Owners Collection' of rare whiskeys priced at £570, meaning there is a flight to suit every budget.' Meanwhile, the hotel is planning to donate a 1608 whiskey flight and overnight stay for the RNLI to use in its ongoing fundraising activities to support their lifesaving work.
Belfast Telegraph
27-05-2025
- Business
- Belfast Telegraph
Connoisseurs offered chance to taste some of world's oldest and rarest whiskeys
It has been created at what is described as Ireland's first ever destination whiskey hotel on the Co Antrim coastline. The newly opened Harbourview Hotel in Carnlough has curated the Bushmills Whiskey tasting experience with Darryl McNally, co-owner of the hotel and former Bushmills master distiller. The £1,608 'flight' – a tasting experience that allows the chance to sample different whiskeys without ordering several different glasses – was priced in tribute to the year that Bushmills was awarded its licence to distil. Just 20 flights are available, leading to the hotel describing it as a 'once-in-a-lifetime experience for whiskey connoisseurs'. Among the whiskeys featured are two of the oldest and rarest bottles ever to be released from the Old Bushmills Distillery – Bushmills 46 Year Old Secrets of the River Bush and the Bushmills 36 Year Old Hill Street Edition, alongside two rare whiskeys from the Bushmills Causeway Collection, a 33-year-old port cask and 18-year-old Grand Cru cask. It is being launched just ahead of The Open returning to Portrush this summer when visitors are due to flock to Northern Ireland. Harbourview Hotel co-owner Adrian McLaughlin said whiskey will be an integral part of the hotel, from resident nightcaps and a turndown gift of whiskey-infused chocolates to a special 'Whiskey Chamber' retail store. The hotel bar will serve a collection of more than 300 whiskeys, and a classic selection of whiskey cocktails. 'As Ireland's first ever destination whiskey hotel, we pride ourselves on offering the finest collection of whiskeys, alongside exceptional events and experiences,' he said. 'To celebrate the opening, we wanted to create something special, and we're proud to present this exclusive whiskey flight in tribute to the iconic Old Bushmills Distillery, which is located just 40 miles from the hotel on our beautiful Causeway Coast. 'This exclusive tasting flight will be an experience to savour for whiskey connoisseurs that might not otherwise get the opportunity to taste such rare whiskeys. 'It is offered alongside a core collection of 11 flights, with prices ranging from £15 to £40, and a special 'Owners Collection' of rare whiskeys priced at £570, meaning there is a flight to suit every budget.' Meanwhile, the hotel is planning to donate a 1608 whiskey flight and overnight stay for the RNLI to use in its ongoing fundraising activities to support their lifesaving work.
Forbes
20-05-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Whiskey Of The Week: Midleton Silent Distillery Collection Chapter 6
It was just a couple of months ago, as I write this, that the venerable Bushmills distillery announced the release of the oldest Irish single malt whiskey ever bottled — a 46-year-old sherried malt almost the color of Coca-Cola, with a suggested retail price of $12,500. It was a very big deal... but only a few weeks went by before it was upstaged by the sixth and final release in the Midleton Very Rare Silent Distillery Collection, a single pot still whiskey aged for a cool half-century. Now, single pot still whiskey is not the same as single malt whiskey. 'Single malt' refers to a whiskey consisting entirely of malted barley, with distillate from a single distillery. Single pot still whiskeys, while also coming from a single distillery, contain a mixture of malted and unmalted barley, as well as other grains such as oats. So both Bushmills and Midleton can proudly boast of being the oldest ever in their respective categories. But a nice-round half century of aging is a little... sexier, I suppose, than 46 years. And there's also the source of the whiskeys in question. Bushmills is, obviously, still a going concern — in fact it's the oldest licensed whiskey distillery in the world, dating back to 1608. Midleton also survives, its distillery home to seven of Ireland's best-known whiskey brands, including Jameson, Redbreast, and Powers. But the whiskey from the Silent Distillery Collection was distilled at the Old Midleton distillery, which opened for business exactly 200 years ago, in 1825, and shut its doors for good in 1975 (it now serves as a visitors' center for Jameson). Chapter Six is in fact, according to the brand, the last of the Old Midleton whiskey to be bottled. Which, in part, explains why a bottle of this stuff will run you a cool $60,000, which makes $12,500 for Bushmills' 46-year-old seems almost a bargain. Suitable for display: the last "new" whiskey we'll ever see from the Old Midleton distillery is entitled to elaborate trappings. Given how long Irish whiskey has been a going concern, it's fair to wonder why the longest-aged Irish whiskey is 'only' 50 years old. After all, even second-tier distilleries in Scotland have released their share of 50-year-old bottlings in the last several years, and both Glenlivet (through independent bottler Gordon & MacPhail) and the Macallan have pushed the envelope with 80-year-olds. The sad fact of the matter is that Irish whiskey as a whole was in decline through almost all of the 20th century. It all but flatlined in the 1970s, when only two distilleries were still producing it — one of which was the replacement for Old Midleton. It wasn't until the late 1980s that a faint heartbeat was detected, and there wasn't much supply or demand for extra-aged Irish whiskeys until the 21st century, when the category once again picked up steam, and also picked up interest from serious whiskeyphiles. The last 'new' whiskey we'll ever see from Old Midleton was distilled by Max Crockett, one of the seminal figures in Irish whiskey history, in what at the time was the world's largest pot still. As you can probably guess by the fact that this is Chapter Six, Midleton has released five previous 'chapters' in the Very Rare Silent Distillery Collection, aged 45-49 years and finished in a variety of refill bourbon and refill sherry casks (meaning they'd previously been used more than once). For the final bottling, the extraordinary step was taken to assemble a special barrel using the staves and heads from barrels that aged Chapters 1-5. That's basically like taking pieces from five different jigsaw puzzles and figuring out a way to put them together in some coherent order. Ger Buckley, a fifth-generation cooper and Midleton's current master cooper, somehow managed the feat. The whiskey was married in this special cask for six months. Whether the fortunate few who buy a bottle will want to open it is a reasonable question, given the price tag. For those who want to know what it tastes like without popping the top on the hand-blown Waterford crystal decanter in which the whiskey is encased.... Bottled at a surprisingly strong cask strength of 53% ABV, it's obvious that, notes of dry oak and leather, this spirit is no spring chicken. But it's not overly tannic, and the dryness is offset by lush, lingering dark fruit notes — think dried pear and apricot. I've heard that the whiskey was originally laid down in a combination of refill bourbon and refill sherry casks, and I've also heard that it was entirely ex-bourbon casks. Either one seems plausible, though I would expect more orange and raisin notes from a sherry cask. Regardless, it's quite the elegant dram, with plenty of depth, this is one to savor regardless of the price. Even if you choose not to drink your $60,000 investment — about 200 of which are available worldwide, according to the brand — it's still pretty to look at. The aforementioned Waterford crystal decanter is housed inside a bespoke case made by Irish artist John Galvin, who has worked on other high-profile whiskies such as Glen Grant's 70 year old Devotion. The case features five rare Irish woods previously used for the cases of the first five chapters of the Silent Distillery Collection; the sixth wood used is a blue bird's-eye maple. With gold trim and leather interior, it sounds more like the interior of a car than a box made for holding whiskey. But since this whiskey costs as much as a car, it all kind of makes sense.
Forbes
15-05-2025
- General
- Forbes
This Brewer's Cask Single Malt Doesn't Let Beer Overpower The Whiskey
Stranahan's Diamond Peak Brewer's Cask Colorado-based Stranahan's celebrated their 20th anniversary in 2024, and today, the Denver distillery is one of the oldest producers of American Single Malt. (A category of spirit that was recognized by the federal government this past January.) While the distillery is known for a wide variety of specialty releases and cask finishes, one of its latest bottles pays homage to its origins and Colorado's storied brewing culture. Fortunately for whiskey drinkers, this is one collaboration where the beer enhances the drinking experience instead of overpowering it. All Stranahan's single malt initially ages in new charred American oak barrels. After an initial aging period, often between four and six years, some of that whiskey is transferred to a variety of other casks for extended finishing. As someone who has seen their operation up close, the distillery's deep stocks feature a dizzying array of finishing casks, including barrels that previously held a broad diversity of wines, as well as spirits including mezcal, rum, peated Scotch, and more. To focus in on a single type of secondary barrel aging, Diamond Peak is Stranahan's annual, nationwide bottling that highlights 'one specific variety of speciality cask-finished whiskies.' The 2025 version of Diamond Peak—the fourth edition overall—is titled 'Local Brewer's Cask.' To create the expression, Stranahan's lent their used American single malt casks to four Denver-area breweries. Local beer was aged in those barrels, after which they were dumped and returned to Stranahan's (or 'boomeranged' according an evocatively worded press release). Those barrels were then refilled with Stranahan's single malt, which aged for an additional period of between one and one-and-a-half years, depending on the barrel. The liquid in those final barrels was blended to create this year's Diamond Peak release. Previous versions of Diamond Peak featured whiskey that underwent additional aging in casks that once held Bushmills, extra añejo tequila, and Caribbean rum. (Bushmills and Stranahan's are both owned by Proximo Spirits.) But this latest, beer-influenced Diamond Peak gets extra points due to the nostalgia factor. In fact, the first version of what would become Stranahan's single malt was distilled from beer mash made by Colorado's Flying Dog Brewery. Stranahan's has long maintained relationships and collaborated with local breweries on a variety of projects. But the proof is ultimately in the taste. So how does this latest Diamond Peak stack up? The nose starts off with some classic scents familiar to longtime Stranahan's drinkers: dried orange peel, candied ginger, rum raisin ice cream, fresh drip coffee, and heavily spiced fruitcake. At least based on aroma, it's a little funkier and more intensely spiced than some other recent expressions from the distillery—but it's certainly not overpoweringly hoppy or otherwise tilted more toward beer than the base whiskey. (A trough some beer barrel-finished American whiskeys can easily fall into, for better or for worse.) The palate leads with some light tropical fruit—fresh pineapple, ripe papaya—with some tannins in the realm of cigar box and fermented tea leaves. Birch and cedar build mildly at the midpalate, along with mulberries and a touch of hard apple cider. The flavor is quite pronounced for 90 proof (frankly a bit more than I was expecting), which leads to a balanced finish that once again leans into a variety of fruits with enough oak to cut through the sweetness. This latest iteration of Stranahan's Diamond Peak is now available at the distillery for $79.99 and at select retailers (where prices may vary).
