Bushmills: Causeway Collection: 10 Year Plum Brandy Cask (Irish Single Malt Whisky: 10 years: 59.6% ABV)
Visual: Light, bright gold with fast, thick streaks from the spirit.
Nose: Soft plum. Caramel. Creme brulee. Wet oak. Apple. White sugar dusting. Custard. Peanuts. Water adds slightly sharp plum and sharper red grapes.
Body: Plums. Umeshuu. Caramel. Water makes a slight syrupy touch. Banana. Toffee. Red grapes. Apple and pear drop notes. Touch of banana to banana sweets.
Finish: Tangy plum. Umeshuu. Toffee. Treacle touch. Pears drops. Wet oak. Water adds red grapes. Banana custard. Tannins. Marzipan.
Conclusion: Well this is the least Bushmills a Bushmills I have ever tasted, but despite that it is absolutely delicious.
It feels very Umeshuu, Japanese plum wine, but less sickly sweet, and it takes that flavor and maps it to the mouthfeel of an Irish smooth whiskey. The mix of the two is very unexpected in feel and flavour
Water brings out more of the base whiskey, while also giving clearer, slightly tarter plum flavor. It never has as clear marzipan like notes as I get in Umeshuu, but there are definitely some marzipan notes there against the toffee sweet whisky base. Yes I know it is probably aged in Slivovitz, definitely not Umeshuu, but the interaction with whiskey has definitely given a lot of familiar Umeshuu notes.
Water also makes more of the base apple and pear drop Bushmills house character, with the high abv the whiskey can take a lot of water and good use of it can make a clearer balance between the Bushmills and the unusual finish.
The interaction between the two sides brings out a barrage of odd notes, most tellingly banana and banana sweets. So, yeah it is sweet, unususal, not a standard whiskey in any way, but I love it. Delicious.
Background: So, a 2023 Poland exclusive Bushmills that was finished in Plum Brandy casks, at a very high abv. While the 25 year Bushmills was probably the crown jewel of Independent Spirit’s recent Bushmills tasting, this was probably the one I was most intrigued by as it was so different to what I was used to. Don’t think I have tried Polish Slivovitz, I have tried Rakia in Belgrade which I think is considered similar, and umeshuu plum wine in Japan which is very different – so those were my two points of comparison for what to expect here. This was the final drink of the night, but I still tried my best to do decent tasting notes despite inebriation.
