Bushmills: Steamship Collection: Port Cask (Ireland Single Malt Whiskey: 40% ABV)
Visual: Deep honeyed gold.
Nose: Brandy cream. Christmas pudding. Plums. Sweet red wine. Pencil shavings. Cake sponge. Water makes lighter and brings out almonds.
Body: Very smooth. Raisins and sultanas. Creamy toffee. Cake sponge. Malt chocolate. Dry port. Dry fudge. Light orange crème notes. Water adds sweet plums and slight grapes.
Finish: Creamy. Sultanas. Christmas pudding. Madeira cake. Vanilla toffee. Rye crackers. Malt chocolate. Light menthol touch. Orange crème notes. Slight coffee. Water adds plums.
Conclusion: This is very good indeed – it has that full, rich, port aged character, yet still manages to keep the smoothness of Bushmills, and even hints of the lighter Bushmills spirit character under the heavy dark fruit notes of the aging. It makes for a dangerously drinkable, yet heavy flavoured mix.
Neat it is a tad closed in character, but it is still good – showing a range of raisins and sultanas character, leaning into heavy Christmas pudding notes. There is a light sponge backing and over time slight rye whisky like notes comes out with spice and light orange crème styling – these are however, just light backing notes.
Water is needed to really open it up – but only the slightest tough – this is a very easy whisky to flood and ruin. However, just a touch of water really opens it up into sweet plum notes and also lets the base Bushmills feel and light green fruit to come out to contrast the heavier flavours. More-so than neat it also becomes smoother and easier to drink.
What takes it from good, to great is the subtle heavier backing notes – starting at vanilla toffee and going into malt chocolate before ending with mild roasted coffee notes. It is a subtle weight that lets the dark fruit notes have hints of heavier backing without sacrificing the smooth and light core. The aroma also carries a lovely brandy cream note, but it doesn’t follow into the body so much.
My only disappointment with this is that it isn’t a touch higher abv – at 43-46% abv this would have has a bit more play and room to use water and that would have made it awesome – right now the water becomes too much, too quickly and doesn’t give you room to experiment. Some room to play would have made it so awesome. Still bloody good.
Background: Another hard effort trying to get hold of this one. I adored Bushmill’s 12 year Caribbean Rum cask finish many years ago and was sad to see it vanish – sadder still that Bushmills seemed to move away from unusual ageings completely for many years. Thus this Steamship collection was right up my alley – espeically since I loved their earlier Sherry edition. Both are travel exclusive so you can only find them in airport duty free areas. I saw this on the way out to China, but knew there was no way a bottle would survive my three week holiday and return home – so ever since then I have been trying to get it, to find that every duty free my mates and I hit was too small to have it in. In the end The Celtic Whiskey shop saved my hide as it looks like they got the chance to sell some of it. So I grabbed it. FINALLY! So, fully port aged Bushmills , that is a new one on me. Put on AFI, Burials while drinking this. Mainly because “I hope you suffer” is Jimmy Havoc’s entrance theme in wrestling. I am shallow.
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