Читать книгу Irish Whiskey: Ireland’s best-known and most-loved whiskeys - Gary Quinn - Страница 21
ОглавлениеCONTACT: Bushmills Distillery, 2 Distillery Road, Bushmills, County Antrim, Northern Ireland, BT57 8XH
WEBSITE: bushmills.com
EMAIL: visitors.bushmills@bushmills.com
DESCRIPTION: Working distillery, visitor centre, café/bar, and shop
It’s often a surprise to whiskey drinkers to find a village surrounding the famous home of Bushmills whiskey, but the more than eighty listed buildings that shape the centre of this heritage site reflect the long-held position of Bushmills as a place of industry and success.
When water was the most bankable power source around, the mill’s pulling profit from the river Bush made the village a significant commercial success in this quiet corner of north Antrim, and the distillery grew from that. It’s from a tributary of the same river Bush, called St Columb’s Rill, that the Bushmills Distillery still takes its water today, and visitors marvel at how close they can get to a natural water source that is destined to be transformed into the core whiskeys that make up the Bushmills brand. Located just two kilometres from the dramatic Causeway Coast, the distillery receives more than 120,000 visitors a year, making it one of the most popular tourist destinations in the region.
Bushmills has changed hands many times over the centuries before current owners, Mexican liquor brand Jose Cuervos, took up residence. Its previous owner, Diageo, spent a reputed €100 million modernizing and enlarging the distillery before selling it on. Each change of ownership brought with it the promise of a continued future for the brand and the many local people who are involved in its creation. But, regardless of who has been in charge at any given time, the identity of this truly Irish and Northern Irish brand has never quite been weakened, bringing a rich and exciting layer of experience to the Irish whiskey story.
