Bushmills Black Bush Whiskey

I’ve always preferred Jameson over Bushmills, but this one caught my eye.

Review :

First and foremost, this is not a whiskey that you want to drink in shot form. I would classify this strictly as a sipping whiskey. I had mine on the rocks, and thoroughly enjoyed it. The smell was very pleasant, and the drink itself was very smooth, and had a great mouth feel. There weren’t very many distinctive flavors like some whiskey is known to have, but the finish was fairly sweet. This bottle comes in at 80 proof or 40% alcohol by volume, so it is pretty standard in that arena. I got my bottle for $30 at BevMo, but it was on sale, so expect to pay around $35 if you want to pick up a bottle for yourself.


The Breakdown :

The Bottle : The Bushmills products have a standard bottle for all their products. It is a pretty simplistic look, but the label is fairly eye catching.

Score : 10

The Taste : I liked the way that this tasted. Since it was more of a sipping whiskey, I didn’t fly through it like I probably would have with Jameson, or even Jack Daniels. Like I said, very smooth, and great finish, with a hint of sweetness at the end. Definitely good for entertaining.

Score : 20

The Buzz : The downside of a sipping whiskey, virtually no buzz. It’s supposed to be something you drink slowly and enjoy, so knock back shots. So of course I didn’t get much of a buzz. I do have to imagine though, if I were to white trash it up and mix it with a bunch of Dr. Pepper, I could probably get pretty smashed.

Score : 10

The Cost : This is another example of whether you prefer quality over quantity. For the price I paid for this I could have bought an equivalent sized bottle of Jack, or depending on where I went, I probably could have gotten 2. However, given the occasions in which I might be drinking this stuff or serving it to others, it would probably go over better than something cheaper.

Score : 15

Total Score : 55

Granted it’s a fairly low score for a product that I actually enjoyed, but keep in min the factors that go into the rating. The bottle itself is not too visually appealing, and you wouldn’t play any drinking games with it. It tasted great, but given the price and the limited occasions that I would probably have it, I had to lower the rating. I would try it if you are into the idea of sipping a whiskey, but for your average binge drinkers, you probably wont bother.

Cheers.