In the small village of Bushmills, settled on the banks of the river you'll find the oldest working distillery in Ireland. A place where family and friends have worked for generations, in a small Northern Irish villiage that for over 400 years has kept to the philosophy that hand crafting small batches is the way to produce beautifully smooth tasting Irish whiskey. Take a sip of any of the Bushmills whiskeys and you'll see that they are spot on. In fact why not come and see for yourself just what hand crafting means? In the company of an experienced tour guide, you will be taken right through the heart of the distillery to view the whiskey making process as it happens. You ll start at our mash house, where the distilling process begins. There, naturally sourced water from St Columbs Rill and 100% malted barley are turned into wort. The wort is then fermented with yeast to create wash which is similar in strength to a strong beer. Then onto the still house where we triple distil our whiskeys, through to the cask store to unravel the secrets of maturation and then finally to the bottling hall where we bottle Bushmills, ready to export across the globe. You can even take home a bottle of our Distillery Reserve 12 year-old Single Malt Whiskey, which is available only from our gift shop and as souvenir s go, I don t think you can get much better!
IF YOU CAN FIND THE TIME TO VISIT, HERE S WHEN WE RE OPEN.
HAND CRAFTED. SMALL BATCHES. SMOOTH TASTE. PUBLIC TOURS Public tours are a great way to discover how we craft Bushmills. But public tour places are limited and sold on a first come first served basis. Admission charge applies. Bookings can be made in advance for groups of 15+ persons. TASTING EXPERIENCE Our tasting experience offers a chance to taste and learn more about our range of whiskies and believe me there s a lot to learn. All bookings are subject to availabilty sorry but you won t believe how popular we are! THE WEE PRINT The Bushmills Distillery tour experience lasts approximately 40 minutes. It is a guided walking tour which involves numerous steps and stairs. For safety reasons it may not be suitable for people with restricted mobility. In such circumstances, Bushmills offers an alternative information and Tasting Experience. Children under 8 years of age are welcome to visit the Distillery but are not permitted to join guided tours. Tour places are sold on a first come first serve basis and are subject to availability. You will be advised of the next available tour that you can join when you are purchasing your tickets. It is best to visit as early in the day as possible to try to avoid disappointment. Under 18 s can only visit the Distillery as part of a family group when accompanied by parents or guardians but are not permitted to take part in tastings. It is only possible to book if there are 15+ in a group. Booked places are subject to availability. Bookings only taken up to and including 13:00. No afternoon bookings taken. No Sunday bookings are taken due to shorter opening hours.
PARTIAL PRODUCTION AND OCCASIONAL DISTILLERY CLOSURE: On occasions, including weekends, and throughout the year there will be periods when the distillery is not in full production due to schedule demands and essential maintenance. Occasionally the distillery may have to close without prior notice. SILENT SEASON: Please be aware that the Distillery has a Silent Season. The Silent Season is an annual part of Distillery life when production of the whiskey ceases for a number of weeks to allow essential maintenance to take place. During this time the Distillery will be viewed in a non-working capacity. The tour is still conducted in the same way taking visitors through all accessible production areas with the guide giving a narration in each area on how whiskey is made. The expected dates for the Silent Season during 2013 will be between 5th July and 24th July and the 19th December to 6th January 2014. All dates shown are inclusive. Please note that there may be occasions when the Silent Season would be extended. BOTTLING PLANT: Monday to Thursday until 4.30pm and Friday until 12.30pm the bottling plant operates. However due to line changes that must take place during the day not all tours passing through this area may see the bottling operation. It ceases production on a Friday afternoon, Saturday and Sunday. We apologise for any disappointment that this may cause.
THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW BEFORE YOU VISIT (TERMS & CONDITIONS) The site is a classified Food Manufacturing site and therefore while touring production areas visitors will be asked to refrain from eating or drinking. All food and drinks must be disposed of before the tour commences. In the interests of Health & Safety the Distillery operates a NO SMOKING policy on site, this includes inside buildings and all outside areas. Visitors who wish to smoke are required to go to the Public Car Park. Use of mobile phones, pagers, cameras or video recorders is not permitted during the tour for reasons of safety and must be turned off for the duration of the tour. This is due to the high levels of ethanol which can be present in the atmosphere in production areas. Schools/College groups cannot book for Distillery visits where students are under 18 years old. This applies also where groups have mixed ages 17 years plus. ID showing DOB is required for all College groups to confirm students age. The tour is not all indoors so coats or umbrellas are advisable, particularly in cold or wet weather. Sensible footwear is also recommended (no flip-flops please). For your safety please walk on the footpaths at all times. As it is a working Distillery there may be times that due to maintenance some production areas may be excluded from the tour for safety reasons. On occasions maintanence may also lead to breaks in production. On Friday afternoons, Saturday and Sunday there is no bottling operation. The content of the tour will remain the same but the bottling area will be viewed in a non-working capacity. Monday to Friday morning some tours will go through the bottling area during the operatives tea/lunch break. This is unavoidable as it is part of the normal working pattern. It is not necessary to join a tour to visit the Gift Shop or Distillery Kitchen Restautrant. Without notice the Old Bushmills Visitor Centre may be closed for Company events. The Distillery holds the right to refuse entry at their discretion.
There s only one place in the world to get your hands on the very special 12 year-old Distillery Reserve Single Malt and that s right here at the old Bushmills Distillery gift shop. And you can make it extra special by personalising the bottle. I can t think of a better gift for a Birthday, Christmas or Anniversary. You can have up to 4 lines of text with 20 characters on each line, so make sure you craft your words as carefully as we craft our Bushmills. We ship throughout the UK and the Republic of Ireland. The full Bushmills range is also available for mail order. Please contact Bushmills Distillery Mail Order. TELEPHONE FOR MAIL ORDER: +44 (0) 28 2073 3268 EMAIL FOR MAIL ORDER: MAIL.ORDER.BUSHMILLS@DIAGEO.COM