Northern Ireland Coast and Bushmills Distillery

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The quiet town of Ballycastle is where we stayed for the night along the Causeway Coast after our visit to the Dark Hedges. We ate dinner at The Diamond Bar; this is located in the town square (or diamond, as they are known in Ireland) and afterwards walked down Quay Street, a leafy street with large Victorian houses. This street led down to the harbour where we enjoyed views and walked onto the sandy beach. I found some pretty shells and rocks.

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Ballycastle, visited by Vikings and others from the sea in old times, became a popular and thriving town in the industrial age. Coal mining, salt, soap, glass, and bleach works (linen) were produced here as well as other items.

Ballycastle is only one of two locations in Northern Ireland for coal mining, and it is believed to have begun in the 1400s and stopped in the 1950s. The company had houses constructed for the miners, and the coal was exported to Dublin by boat. To attract men to the area to the mines to work, the owner actually bought large supplies of grain to make bread and offered loaves to his workers for half the price. 

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Ballycastle

The next day, we visited Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge and Giant's Causeway before arriving at Bushmills Distillery. Bushmills Distillery, located in Bushmills along Giant's Coastal Causeway, is the oldest distillery in the world. The company is owned by Diageo, who also make the drink Bailey's Irish Cream. Whiskey is distilled here, and they operate tours of the distillery as well as having a restaurant and gift shop on location. We had lunch at the restaurant while we waited for our tour.

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Bushmills Distillery

We took a tour of the distillery, but photographs were not allowed. We saw the entire process of the whiskey production from grain to liquid/vapour to heating and then bottling. The bottling and packaging was the most interesting as we could watch the bottles be filled, labelled, sealed, and packaged into boxes by smart conveyor belts and machinery that would push the bottles into certain areas and line them up for boxing and wrapping.

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Bushmills Distillery

We were also shown to a room where we could see the effect that the wooden barrel has on the taste and colour of the whiskey. Barrels are reused after they contain other alcoholic drinks, and each type of wood produces a different taste. One display also showed different lengths of time of whiskey in a see-through barrel. As the years progressed, the whiskey in the barrel became less because it does still evaporate. This is why older whiskey is a little more expensive.

After our tour, we met in the bar and were given our vouchers for a free glass of whiskey. Unfortunately, I cannot seem to locate any photographs of our whiskey glasses. I had one of the easy-going selections, and we also received mini bottles of honey whiskey for free.

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Bushmills

After the visit to Bushmills, we drove down the Causeway Coastal Route to stop off at Dunluce Castle.

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