Whiskey Flavor Atlas / Featured Spirit
Bushmills 21 Year
A 21-year-old single malt Irish whiskey combining Oloroso sherry and bourbon cask maturation with a further two years in Madeira casks.
- Producer
- Bushmills
- Strength
- 80 proof
- Age
- 21 years
- Maturation
- Oloroso sherry and bourbon casks, followed by Madeira casks
Tasting Profile
Bushmills 21 opens with an easy richness, with citrus bringing freshness to the caramel aroma. Taking a sip reveals a fuller kind of fruit: apricot and fig give the whiskey a deeper sweetness than the nose first suggests. Toasted oak brings a woody edge to that fruit, giving the richer flavors something to meet rather than leaving sweetness as the only impression.
Raisin and vanilla linger at the close, carrying the whiskey further into dried-fruit sweetness. The citrus that introduced the glass and the raisin that remains after the sip feel like different expressions of its fruit, one bright and fresh, the other deeper and more settled. That change gives the experience its interest without losing the welcoming sweetness of the opening.
- nose
- Caramel gives the aroma a rich, sweet opening, while citrus brings a fresh brightness that keeps the impression from being only confectionery.
- palate
- Apricot and fig fill out the fruit, with toffee adding sweetness around them. Toasted oak gives the sip a woody edge against that richer center.
- finish
- Raisin and vanilla linger after the sip, leaving a deeper dried-fruit sweetness than the citrus brightness of the opening.