# Bushmills Single Malt Irish Whiskey! Should I drink it? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** liquor-alcohol\ **Created:** [December 8, 2013, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushmills-single-malt-irish-whiskey-should-i-drink-it/675805 "2013-12-08T06:07:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Gray\_Ghost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c0e974/32.png) [@Gray\_Ghost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gray_Ghost)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2013, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushmills-single-malt-irish-whiskey-should-i-drink-it/675805/21 "2013-12-09T05:57:59Z")
> [@don\_t\_ask](#): > > Never drink good whiskey neat. For entirely scientific reasons it should always contain a splash of water. It’s true of anything with alcohol in it. If you can’t trust [Harold McGee](http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/28/dining/28curious.html?_r=2&ref=dining&) who can you trust. Neat’s a perfectly fine way to enjoy your glass of whisky. However, a glass of water with a cocktail straw is a good accessory. Try it neat, and then use the straw to add as many drops of water as you care to add. The added water will change the taste. Whether you like the effect or not, is another question. I wil drink cask strength neat, so I’m perhaps the wrong guy to ask. Me, I’d drink the whisky, and save the bottle. The food coloring is a neat idea. What a thoughtful gift! (I wish I had such thoughtful relatives.) ---
**Author:** ![Floater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dc4da7/32.png) [@Floater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Floater)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2013, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushmills-single-malt-irish-whiskey-should-i-drink-it/675805/22 "2013-12-09T11:59:45Z")
> [@zoid](#): > > I would not mix it. It’s a decent enough bottle and should be sipped straight or perhaps with a splash of water or an ice cube to mellow it. Never have ice in your whisky. Drink it at room temperature, > [@don\_t\_ask](#): > > Never drink good whiskey neat. For entirely scientific reasons it should always contain a splash of water. It’s true of anything with alcohol in it. If you can’t trust [Harold McGee](http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/28/dining/28curious.html?_r=2&ref=dining&) who can you trust. The motto of a whisky society I belong to is “Never drink whisky without water, never drink water without whisky”. ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2013, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushmills-single-malt-irish-whiskey-should-i-drink-it/675805/23 "2013-12-09T12:48:50Z")
Use it to make “homeopathic” whiskey! Take a drop of it, dilute with water 10 jillion times-drink that and you get the full effect! And you can keep your (nearly full) bottle forever. ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2013, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushmills-single-malt-irish-whiskey-should-i-drink-it/675805/24 "2013-12-09T16:27:10Z")
Moving thread from IMHO to Cafe Society. ---
**Author:** ![MikeF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MikeF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeF)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2013, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushmills-single-malt-irish-whiskey-should-i-drink-it/675805/25 "2013-12-10T20:35:51Z")
My first single malt experience was Bushmills 10 year old. I like it and still do. It is “unpeated”, that is to say the barley is dried with hot air as opposed in the heat/smoke of burning peat. It gives it a pretty light taste. I’ve never heard of the special stuff you are talking about but would have no reason to doubt its quality. Drink it up and report back! ETA: My Catholic friends from Belfast wouldn’t be caught dead drinking Bushmills - its damn Protestant whiskey! ---
**Author:** ![Saintly\_Loser](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saintly_loser/32/4045_2.png) [@Saintly\_Loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saintly_Loser)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2013, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushmills-single-malt-irish-whiskey-should-i-drink-it/675805/26 "2013-12-10T22:21:22Z")
I haven’t had this 12 Year Old Distillery Reserve yet, but I’d love to try it. My favorite Irish is plain old Powers. Very nice. Bushmill’s (regular Bushmill’s – White Bush) is my second favorite. I actually like it better than Black Bush. I’d still love to try the 12 Year Old Distillery Reserve, though. For special occasions, if you like high-end Irish whiskey, Middleton is wonderful, but it’s well over $100 a bottle. Redbreast is also great, and goes for around $45 for a 750 ml bottle. ---
**Author:** ![InappropriateHumor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/eb8c5e/32.png) [@InappropriateHumor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InappropriateHumor)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2013, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushmills-single-malt-irish-whiskey-should-i-drink-it/675805/27 "2013-12-11T02:30:08Z")
I had planned to wait until Christmas to open the bottle, but having read everyone’s posts I don’t know if I’ll make it past the weekend without having some. With my inexperienced palate I’ll bet I won’t be able to distinguish the whiskey’s denomination. 🙂 {Smile, in case that sounds snarky. I hadn’t realized how violent the Catholic/Protestant divide still was until the girls came back telling me about a bomb that was placed in a mall. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2013, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushmills-single-malt-irish-whiskey-should-i-drink-it/675805/28 "2013-12-11T03:58:21Z")
> [@MikeF](#): > > ETA: My Catholic friends from Belfast wouldn’t be caught dead drinking Bushmills - its damn Protestant whiskey! Tullamore Dew is a good compromise. Really, Ireland didn’t get into the _single malt_ thing as much as Scotland. Ireland local claim is _single pot still_ whiskey. Redbreast and Green Spot are two of them, the former if not both I’ve seen in the US. > [@InappropriateHumor](#): > > With my inexperienced palate I’ll bet I won’t be able to distinguish the whiskey’s denomination. 🙂 {Smile, in case that sounds snarky. > > I hadn’t realized how violent the Catholic/Protestant divide still was until the girls came back telling me about a bomb that was placed in a mall. Well if you come back with a need to never touch the damnable spirit again, then you’ve become a Free Presbyterian. A bomb recently? Thankfully, it’s fringe elements who are doing this nowadays, and I wouldn’t let it affect my travel plans anymore than a threat in Washington DC would affect it. ---
**Author:** ![Purd\_Werfect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e47c2d/32.png) [@Purd\_Werfect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Purd_Werfect)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2013, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushmills-single-malt-irish-whiskey-should-i-drink-it/675805/29 "2013-12-11T05:16:39Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > Tullamore Dew is a good compromise. A downright delightful compromise, in fact. ---
**Author:** ![Floater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dc4da7/32.png) [@Floater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Floater)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2013, 8:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushmills-single-malt-irish-whiskey-should-i-drink-it/675805/30 "2013-12-11T08:30:08Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > Really, Ireland didn’t get into the _single malt_ thing as much as Scotland. The single malt thing is basically a marketing thing anyway. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2013, 9:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushmills-single-malt-irish-whiskey-should-i-drink-it/675805/31 "2013-12-11T09:48:04Z")
> [@Floater](#): > > The single malt thing is basically a marketing thing anyway. Shh! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushmills-single-malt-irish-whiskey-should-i-drink-it/675805.md?page=1)