Aussies love rare Irish malt whiskey from Old Bushmills

Members of Australia’s influential Whisky Club have given their enthusiastic backing to a 10-year-old single malt from Old Bushmills in what could prove to be a significant export boost for the iconic County Antrim distillery, the world’s oldest.

Based in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia’s ‘whisky isle’, the club was founded in 2014 by former drink trade marketers Bertie and Emily Ashbolt Cason with a vision of creating the world's biggest whisky club, delivering “the ultimate whisky experience to fellow whisky lovers everywhere”.

Club members chose Bushmills 2010 single malt finished in double Moscatel wine cask as their favourite tipple. The rare Irish whiskey, already a double gold winner at the prestigious San Francisco World Spirits Competition last year, is an integral part of the distillery’s hugely successful Causeway Collection of triple distilled fine whiskeys which have won global acclaim for the distillery, now also a major Northern Ireland tourism destination.

Alex Thompson, master blender at Bushmills, says the distillery, which recently opened a new £36 million facility, is “honoured, delighted and grateful for the love from the Whisky Club members”.

The distillery has long collaborated with the club and has won the top spot for whisky in the past. As a result, Australia has developed into one of the biggest markets for Bushmills.

Bertie Cason adds that “pretty much every whisky lover you speak to anywhere in Australia is either already a member or knows a member who's shared a special dram with them or raved about the experience. Together, we've created a small slice of whisky heaven on earth.

“Now, as by far Australia's biggest community of whisky lovers, and possibly the biggest in the world, we enjoy an unrivalled economy of scale through our very special relationships with the world's greatest distilleries like Old Bushmills Irish whiskey,” adds Bertie.