# Jamison's vs. Bushmill's



## eyedoc2180

As a single malt scotch guy, I am disappointed when the selection at a meeting location is slim to none. Irish whiskey, namely Jamison's or Bushmill's, makes a great second choice. I have come to prefer the Bushmill's, a little more aromatic and not so smooth as Jamison's. It goes great with fish and chips, too. Thoughts, anyone? Bill


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## sowilson

I like both too but prefer Jamison's, can't pinpoint why, just do.


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## Pr B

*Jameson vs Bushmills*

"Whisky" magazine rates them very close, but Jameson ahead by a bit.

For some, the difference is that Bushmills is from Northern Ireland, while Jameson is from the Republic of Ireland....

I read on Wikipedia that, "Interestingly, the bar that sells the most Jameson whiskey annually is located in Minneapolis, Minnesota (USA). In 2008, the Local Irish Pub in Minneapolis sold 671 cases of Jameson, 22 bottles a day.[3]"


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## Baywulf

+1 for Jamison's. To me it is smoother.


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## Realalefan

For me, the Irish whiskies come in fourth, behind Scotch, bourbon and Canadian. I like them OK, it's just they're a bit far down my personal list of options. My preference is also Bushmills, there's an underlying note of toffee/molasses I find appealing. Some might consider this a flaw though.


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## Pr B

*"Whisky" Magazine Ratings*

I imagine "Whisky" magazine rates whiskies with some single-malt Scotch as their ideal?

Categorically, they tend to rank Scotch over Irish Whiskey over Bourbon over Canadian. My read on that is the bottom of their scale tends to be sweeter, and it gets less sweet as one moves up.


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## eyedoc2180

Baywulf said:


> +1 for Jamison's. To me it is smoother.


Indeed, and at least for me, too much so. Similarly, I switched from blended scotch (Pinch, which I still like) to Glenfiddich to get a little more aromatic. Cheers! Bill


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## Mike Petrik

I don't know what Whisky magazine does or purports to do, but trying to "rate" scotch, bourbon, Canadian, and Irish whiskeys against each other is silly. Pears peaches, and apples. A bias toward scotch, however, would be unsurprising given the magazine's spelling.

As between Jameson versus Bushmills, I opt for Jameson, but only because it was traditionally the choice of Irish Catholics whereas Bushmills was the preference of Irish Protestants, and I'm a trad papist. That said, I'm always happy to share a bottle of Bushmills with my many Protty friends whenever the opportunity occurs. As far as their comparative merits, I rank them as pretty even.


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## Pr B

*"Whisky" Magazine Ratings*

I came across "Whisky" magazine's "ratings" () when I started to expand my range beyond Glenfiddich. My thinking was to get a sense of how the "experts" (e.g., the late Michael Jackson, no, not "The King of Pop," the other one!) respond to various brands and blends. Hopefully I could then bypass some stinkers as well as zone in on "the good stuff." Marketing and price are often not reliable indicators of quality, so I found "the experts'" opinions helpful. It also allowed my to identify "values" (e.g., where the 8.4 costs $30, and to get to 8.5 (by their scoring) trebles the price).

They proport to "celebrate the whiskies of the world," i.e., all types of whiskey. (I too suspect they favor Scotch over, say, Bourbon, much as the beer "experts" favor stouts over pilsners.)

While my spreadsheet is not exhaustive, I did compile what the multiple "experts" had to say about many brands in the various types.

Their mean-average ratings of bourbons is 8.4 (out of 10), of rye is 8.0, of Tennessee is 8.0, of Canadian is 7.5, of Irish is 8.2, of blended Scotch is 8.3, of single-malt Scotch is 8.5.

Of the single-malts, Speyside (e.g., The Macallan, The Glenlivet, Glenfiddich) averages 8.4, Islay (e.g., Laphroaig) is 8.3, and Island (e.g., Talisker) is 8.8.

Happy tasting!


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## Earl of Ormonde

You have to be more specific

Bushmills as a named whiskey, rather than the distillery name, refers to all of the following: 
The Bushmills original blended (White Bush or white label)
The 1608 400th anniversary blend 
And to the 10,12,16 and 21 y.o. single malts. 
And the 25 y.o. Millennium malt

Black Bush (Black label or old Bushmills) from the Bushmills distillery is equivalent to Jameson's but far far smoother than Jamesons. 

I have drunk and still regulary drink the 10 & 16 plus the Black Bush and the White Bush. My distillery bought bottle of 12 is almost empty & I won't be back in N.I. for a while to buy another.


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## Kingstonian

eyedoc2180 said:


> I have come to prefer the Bushmill's, a little more aromatic and not so smooth as Jamison's. It goes great with fish and chips, too. Thoughts, anyone? Bill


You drink whiskey with fish and chips ? There is nowt so queer as folk.

Strong tea is all I drink with fish and chips. Proper non brewed condiment instead of vinegar by preference too. No slice of lemon either.


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## Helvetia

+1 for Jamison's. Although I should try the Bushmill's


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## Laxplayer

Mike Petrik said:


> I don't know what Whisky magazine does or purports to do, but trying to "rate" scotch, bourbon, Canadian, and Irish whiskeys against each other is silly. Pears peaches, and apples. A bias toward scotch, however, would be unsurprising given the magazine's spelling.
> 
> As between Jameson versus Bushmills, I opt for Jameson, but only because it was traditionally the choice of Irish Catholics whereas Bushmills was the preference of Irish Protestants, and I'm a trad papist. That said, I'm always happy to share a bottle of Bushmills with my many Protty friends whenever the opportunity occurs. As far as their comparative merits, I rank them as pretty even.


My family is from Irish Catholic heritage and my wife's family members are all Lutherans, so I'll take the middle ground and pour a dram of Tullamore Dew. :icon_smile_wink:


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## Earl of Ormonde

Laxplayer said:


> My family is from Irish Catholic heritage and my wife's family members are all Lutherans, so I'll take the middle ground and pour a dram of Tullamore Dew. :icon_smile_wink:


However, Tullamore Dew is made in the same still as Jamesons!


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## Earl of Ormonde

For the record, all and any of the Bushmills whiskies for me any day of the week over Jamesons.

All this Ireland v N. Irleand and Catholic v Protestant stuff determining what whiskey you should drink is a silly invention as far as I'm concerned!

Plenty of Bushmills gets drunk in Dublin of a weekend I can assure you of that!:icon_smile:


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## psycho1964

I have always been a Jameson's fan.

While I am sure I do not have the whisk(e)y palate of some on this forum, if you put 4 different glasses in front of me, I can pick the Jameson's :icon_smile:


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## WouldaShoulda

Of the two I prefer Jamison's.

If it isn't on sale that weeek I'll pick up some Powers.


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## eyedoc2180

Kingstonian said:


> You drink whiskey with fish and chips ? There is nowt so queer as folk.
> 
> Strong tea is all I drink with fish and chips. Proper non brewed condiment instead of vinegar by preference too. No slice of lemon either.


If you say so. Guiness and Bass are high on the list, too. That "HP" sauce was nice, though it seemed like beef gravy? Last indulgence was at Fado, a supposedly Guinness-owned pub in Philadelphis. Word has it, other Irish pubs in Philly boycotted Guinness for a while, when Fado appeared.


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## The Rambler

Black Bush is as smooth and delicious,but, loyal to Cork, I've got to go with Paddy.


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## Earl of Ormonde

The Rambler said:


> Paddy.


Ah The Paddy, yes! You know a whiskey that's great but no one ever mentions or seems to buy anymore is the Powers. The Gold Label.

By the way, just bought a bottle of Greenore Single Grain Irish Whiskey on Thursday, voted last year as the World's Best Grain Whiskey.

And I can see why. I tell ya, once you've tried this you'll be happy! And probably won't want to drink Scotch ever again.:icon_smile_big:


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## Penang Lawyer

Jamison's for me.


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## chainsaw4130

Penang Lawyer said:


> Jamison's for me.


+1 for me


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## eyedoc2180

Earl of Ormonde said:


> For the record, all and any of the Bushmills whiskies for me any day of the week over Jamesons.
> 
> All this Ireland v N. Irleand and Catholic v Protestant stuff determining what whiskey you should drink is a silly invention as far as I'm concerned!
> 
> Plenty of Bushmills gets drunk in Dublin of a weekend I can assure you of that!:icon_smile:


Aye. How many varieties of each are marketed in the UK? I would love to try an alternate blend or vintage of either one. Only the basic Bushmill's and Jameson's seem available where I shop.


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## CC3

Red Breast is far superior to Jamison's or Bushmill's - whether the standard blend or aged malt. Red Breast is made is small copper pots and is significantly more complex. For those not wanting the complexity (more intensity goes with it), try Knappogue, light Irish Whiskey. I gravitated to Irish and Lowland because I wanted less smoke. Scotch Whiskys - even many highland and Speyside - leave an aftertaste and effect I grew not to like.


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## Casual_yet_trying

Jameson. When I go out, it is the only whiskey I order. Moreover, 18 year old Jameson might be the single greatest liquid that has ever entered my mouth.

For those who don't know, the single biggest difference between Scotch and Irish whiskey is the number of times it is distilled. Scotch gets distilled twice, Irish gets distilled three times, giving it the smoother flavor.

The only American Whiskey close to Jameson is Gentleman Jack Daniels. Not as good, but I love the smell it creates due to its double rock maple charcoal filtration.


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## Earl of Ormonde

CC3 said:


> Red Breast is far superior to Jamison's or Bushmill's - whether the standard blend or aged malt. Red Breast is made is small copper pots and is significantly more complex. For those not wanting the complexity (more intensity goes with it), try Knappogue, light Irish Whiskey. I gravitated to Irish and Lowland because I wanted less smoke. Scotch Whiskys - even many highland and Speyside - leave an aftertaste and effect I grew not to like.


That's because Red Breast is one of the few "pure pot still" Irish whiskeys. Knappogue, a single malt, is very good too.

I have never liked the spirity aftertaste of Scotch whisky.


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## Earl of Ormonde

Casual_yet_trying said:


> Jameson. When I go out, it is the only whiskey I order. Moreover, 18 year old Jameson might be the single greatest liquid that has ever entered my mouth.
> 
> For those who don't know, the single biggest difference between Scotch and Irish whiskey is the number of times it is distilled. Scotch gets distilled twice, Irish gets distilled three times, giving it the smoother flavor.


Hhhmm....while that's true, the biggest difference is actually that Irish whiskey does not use peat to dry the grain, hence the lack of the smoked flavour in Irish whiskey. The triple distilling of course makes Irish whiskies smoother and stronger (and therefore easier to blend), but not using peat and thus the lack of the smoky taste will be identified immediately by the first time taster, who has previously tasted scotch.

That said, one of the new Irish whiskies from the Cooley concern, namely, Connemara Single Malt, does use peat to try the grain and IS only distilled twice. And is a huge seller and medal winner.

My latest discovery about a month ago was Greenore Single Grain Irish whiskey. It won the 2009 Best Single Grain whiskey award. I wrote about this in another thread. But man, if you haven't tried this and you're looking for a smooth Irish whiskey with character and you think the Jameson's 18 Y.O. is smooth then you owe it to yourself to try Greenore.


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## Youngster

Irish is at the bottom of my whiskey list, but I tend to prefer Bushmill's if I am drinking it. I dunno why. I was raised Protestant, so I guess that's part of it.


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## ExecAccess

Jamison's for me. But just trying to imagine scotch with fish and chips???


eyedoc2180 said:


> As a single malt scotch guy, I am disappointed when the selection at a meeting location is slim to none. Irish whiskey, namely Jamison's or Bushmill's, makes a great second choice. I have come to prefer the Bushmill's, a little more aromatic and not so smooth as Jamison's. It goes great with fish and chips, too. Thoughts, anyone? Bill


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## VictorRomeo

I'm not a big whiskey drinker but I've given it a good go down the years! Like my clothes and my wine I've developed a taste for the expensive. With whiskey, a high quality whiskey works for me whereas a cheaper blend does not work at all. It's the chewy, leathery, honey sweet smoothness of a ball of quality malt that gets me every time.

So, if you're that way inclined - with whiskey that is - and you like your Jemmy, treat yourself to a bottle of Midleton Very Rare. It's very, very special.

Bushmills 21 y/o is particularly brilliant too but the Midleton works best for me.

However, if you're extremely lucky and you get to sample a single pure pot still Midleton - savour that moment as you then will understand what makes Irish Whiskey so, so special.

_An té nach leigheasann im nó uisce beatha, ní aon leigheas ar._


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## eyedoc2180

ExecAccess said:


> Jamison's for me. But just trying to imagine scotch with fish and chips???


LOL, someone else zinged me a bit earlier on this one. It was incidental at first, with the main course arriving sooner than expected, just as the second whiskey arrived......the rest is history.


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## Umlauf

Kingstonian said:


> You drink whiskey with fish and chips ? There is nowt so queer as folk.
> 
> Strong tea is all I drink with fish and chips. Proper non brewed condiment instead of vinegar by preference too. No slice of lemon either.


Haha! There is nowt so queer as folk, but you happen to be very specific indeed when it comes to fish & chips! Hot tea? Never heard of it! Am much more a beer or a pint of guiness with my fish and chips! Nothing fussy!!

As for the topic, am all for Jameson, I find Bushmills goes down well - but prefer Jamesons for the flavour.


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## Earl of Ormonde

Umlauf said:


> Haha! There is nowt so queer as folk, but you happen to be very specific indeed when it comes to fish & chips! Hot tea? Never heard of it!


In which case you've clearly never seen people eating fish & chips in the UK, either at home or in cafes. I only ever drink tea with fish & chips. Kingstonian isn't being specific at all, in fact I'd go as far as to say he's stating the norm. I also only drink tea, as do most people, with my cooked breakfasts and when I'm eating pie and chips.
You seem to have missed the cultural fact that many, if not most, people drink tea with their dinners in the UK.


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## Earl of Ormonde

VictorRomeo said:


> _An té nach leigheasann im nó uisce beatha, ní aon leigheas ar._


And here's a translation for those poor unfortunates amongst you who do not possess the gift of God's language 

"What butter and Whiskey cannot cure, there is no cure for."


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