Day 4 of Book Prizes, and the Bushmills Distillery

Yesterday’s winner of On a Highland Shore is comment #15…Susie! Susie, e-mail me your snail mail address and I’ll send your book along. :book:

Today’s giveaway is a copy of Out of the Night by Robin T. Popp. I will draw today’s winner from my newsletter subscribers! If you haven’t already subscribed, you can join the newsletter by typing in your e-mail address below the menu bar. I only use it to announce book sales and new releases, so if you’d like to keep up with when The As of Yet Untitled Historical Romance with Hunky Irish Warriors is released, I’ll be sending out a note about the title later on. If you’re already a subscriber, you’re already entered to win!

Okay, more on Ireland. We went to the Bushmills Distillery in northern Ireland later the same day. My advice? Get there early. We barely made one of the last tours. And not only that, you can use your extra time to, er…browse the gift shop. :drunk:

When we arrived in the parking lot of Bushmills, the heavens burst forth with angels singing. Golden beams shot down from the heavens, and the three of us were bound and determined to learn all we could about the whiskey that has been licensed since 1607. The tour offered four lucky visitors the chance to be whiskey taste-testers. Our hands shot up so fast, it’s a wonder we didn’t knock a few bystanders senseless. Then…joy! Rapture! Both my husband and I were selected.

The distillery uses sherry barrels to age their Black Bush whiskey, which is a little sweeter. Oak barrels are used for the Bushmills Blend and Originals. But one of the funniest aspects of the tour was the bottling plant. Not because of the interesting equipment (and let’s be honest, it’s always fun to watch them bottle any form of liquid)….but because they were bottling Jameson’s whiskey, their main competitor. The tour guide was a bit embarrassed, to say the least.

AT the end of the tour, the guide led my husband and me to a table set with five types of whiskey: Original Bushmills Blend, Black Bush, the 10-year Single Malt, Johnny Walker Red Scotch, and Jim Beam Bourbon. Most were buttery in flavor, but the Black Bush had a slightly sweeter taste (probably good for cooking) due to the sherry barrel it was aged in. I didn’t like the scotch because I could taste the smoky flavor. The bourbon was good, though. Out of the Bushmills whiskeys, I liked the 10-year the best. But to be honest, I can’t drink copious amounts. My brain would go to mush. I sipped a bit to try it and gave my husband the rest (he was suffering, I can tell you). I also prefer whiskey in Irish coffee, instead of by itself. It’s a little strong for me.

At the end, we received a certificate proving our status as official taste-testers. It was quite a tour! :thumbsup: