Bushmills Irish whiskey has a long story in the past. As one of the industry’s first entrants, it is well-known for its single malt whiskeys and unique Irish heritage. Despite its roots in Ireland, the distillery’s goods can now be found all over the world. Even with such a rich history, Bushmills doesn’t rest on its laurels. In 1983, the company added 10-, 12-, and 17-year-aged whiskeys to its collection, and in 2017 it released a bourbon-aged whiskey. There are still a lot of people flocking to its distillery. Visitors from across the globe have been flocking to Northern Ireland’s Bushmills distillery in recent years to check out the Irish whiskey scene.
History of Bushmills Distillery
On every Bushmills bottle, you can plainly see the distillery’s pride in its claim to being the “World’s Oldest Whiskey Distillery”. The Bushmills Distillery has witnessed its fair share of historical events in its lengthy tenure. Small business in the 17th century to island-wide reputation in the 18th century. Cognac producers in France were decimated, industry financial troubles restricted demand, and then, in the early 1900s, all Irish whiskey brands saw a terrible downturn. While other Irish brands had fallen victim to the economic downturn and were forced to shut, Bushmills persevered.
In 1972, Irish distillers purchased the distillery, which was later purchased by Pernod Ricard in France in 1988. Drinks giant Diageo bought the distillery in 2005 and immediately launched a massive advertising effort to help restore the brand’s popularity. The Old Bushmills Distillery was featured on Northern Ireland’s pound banknotes in 2008, demonstrating the distillery’s renown.
2014 saw the continuation of the distillery selling between bigger beverage firms when Diageo sold the distillery to Jose Cuervo, a Mexican firm. An investment of £60 million to enhance output at the Bushmills Distillery reflects the new owners’ confidence in the brand’s long-term viability.
Here are the Some important things that you should know About Bushmills Irish whiskey
Bushmills is a part of Casa Cuervo portfolio
Bushmills was sold in 2014 to Casa Cuervo, the current owner, after a nearly decade-long partnership with Diageo. It was part of a larger deal in which Diageo acquired ownership of Don Julio tequila in exchange for selling its own brand. With the addition of Bushmills to the list, Jose Cuervo tequilas and 11 additional whiskeys, tequilas, vodkas, and rums are now all available at the same time.
It Referenced in Pop Culture
Musicians, filmmakers, and others love to include great liquor brands in their works. Bushmills isn’t the only one that has had its share of headlines. The Irish novelist James Joyce, in his 1920 work “Ulysses,” and the musician Tom Waits, in his 1976 song “Tom Traubert’s Blues,” both make mention to it. Jackie Brown” and “Independence Day” are two such examples of its use in movies. – Quentin Tarantino, “Jackie Brown” and “Independence Day”
Ireland bank features this distillery on their banknotes
With Bushmills’ decades of success for Northern Ireland, the Bank of Ireland released Northern Ireland bank notes that prominently displayed the distillery on five-, ten-, and twenty-pound notes, respectively. To mark the 400th anniversary of Bushmills being licensed as a distillery, Bushmills launched the new design in 2008. Northern Ireland continues to use these banknotes to this day.
Widely distributed across the world
The Bushmills name is renowned over the globe, despite a few historical failures that thwarted the brand’s worldwide distribution goals. In the United States, you can get it in most liquor shops nowadays. While Jameson and Tullamore D.E.W. are the most popular Irish whiskey brands in terms of sales, Brugal is the third most popular in terms of non-European Union sales, with 25.6 million pounds of non-EU sales in 2018.
For a time, the popularity of Irish whiskey in the United States was a major factor in Bushmills’ worldwide success. Due to American Prohibition, Ireland’s whiskey exports plummeted in the 1920s, leaving a void in the market. Many distilleries in Ireland closed down, while smaller distilleries concentrated their efforts on Bushmills and Middleton distilleries in the hope that they would be able to continue to produce whiskey in the future.
