Replacement for Bushmills 10yo in a recipe?

[Admiral]

My wife and I are going to try a lobster recipe that appeared in a back-issue of Whisky Magazine a year or two ago.

The recipe calls for Busmills 10yo single malt. However, I don't have a bottle of this at the moment, and I'm a bit reluctant to buy a whole bottle when only a small amount is needed for the recipe.

(I'm not all that impressed with the Bushmills 10yo, so I wouldn't enjoy the prospect of having to finish the bottle off in the year ahead )

Anyway, I wonder if anyone can suggest a suitable substitute?

Should the substitute necessarily be an Irish whiskey? Bear in mind that the only other Irish whiskies available here are Jamesons NAS, Paddy, Black Bush, and Tullamore Dew.

If I used a scotch instead, what would be suitable?

Cheers & thanks,
Admiral

[Aidan]

You could use a non-peated scotch or some Blackbush, I'd say

[bamber]

How about some Busmills 16yo or Knappogue Castle 1994. Similar flavour profiles but much nicer to drink after the bottle is open ?

[Aidan]

I think the bushmills 16 might be a little expensive for cooking, although he did say lobster...

[bamber]

Lobsters - they freak me out. I'd have to drink a few doubles before tackling the thing.

[Aidan]

They are very very tasty, although they require some work.

[bamber]

They're also explosive. Bits always seem to fly off when your're trying to break into them. I also always seem to cut myself on a bit of shell and generally make an arse of myself. Definitely best eaten at home, with people who can tolerate my lack of sophistication

[Aidan]

Bamber, you obviously do polish off a bottle of malt before dinner. When you eat lobster in a restraunt, you get a whole tool kit to eat it.

I know it's different to the Bushmills, but a simple Jameson might be nice with it. I think Jameson is very nice in cooking, especially deserts.

[Admiral]

How about some Busmills 16yo or Knappogue Castle 1994

Nice thought, Bamber, but I fear you missed my other comment:

Bear in mind that the only other Irish whiskies available here are Jamesons NAS, Paddy, Black Bush, and Tullamore Dew.

I guess the Black Bush is probably the most worthy substitute - particularly considering it's a blend with only two component whiskies and one of them is Bushmills malt anyway!

Cheers,
Admiral

[Deactivated Member]

I would have thought an unpeated Scotch would be a closer substitute for Bush 10. Black Bush is very sherried and quite different to the Bush 10. Jamesons is also quite different. Paddy and Tullamore Derv would present greater problems with drinking the rest of the bottle than Bush 10 (IMO). I would try a Glengoyne, an Auchentoshan or a miniature Bush 10.

[bamber]

How about some Busmills 16yo or Knappogue Castle 1994

Nice thought, Bamber, but I fear you missed my other comment:

Bear in mind that the only other Irish whiskies available here are Jamesons NAS, Paddy, Black Bush, and Tullamore Dew.

Admiral

Oh yes - sorry

[Frodo]

I would try a Glengoyne, an Auchentoshan or a miniature Bush 10.

Read my mind Nick. I would have said Glengoyne, although Auchantoshan would be a good fit also.

Frodo

[bond]

Just do not see the similarity in falvour profile between a Bushmills and an Auchentoshan.

Auchentoshan is very mild on the palate. Bushmills is a lot more robust though metallic.

So Admiral, what DID you finally plump for?

[hpulley]

Here at least, the basic Jameson is available as a 20cL bottle for about $7.50. It isn't a single but it is an irish whiskey. How about a miniature of Bushmills?

Harry

[Frodo]

Just do not see the similarity in falvour profile between a Bushmills and an Auchentoshan.

Auchentoshan is very mild on the palate. Bushmills is a lot more robust though metallic.

We must have had different bottles. The Bushmills 10 I had was one of the mildest whiskies I've ever tasted next to Auchantoshan and Bunahabain.

[bamber]

They're both mild but different IMO. Auchantoshan has some kind of weird leathery edge that I do not like. Personally I think Bushmills has a very distinctive flavour, that is unique.

[Aidan]

Some of the Bushmills single cask whiskeys are superb, as is the 1975 Millennium. I also like the 16 yr old. I've tasted the 21 yr old too, but can't remember what it was like. Black Bush is excellent.

[Admiral]

Yes, I think the Black Bush is the most logical replacement.

I'm also wondering whether Canadian Club might do the trick? It's also thin, mean, and a bit spirity, which I confess is how I tend to find the Bushmills 10yo at times!

(Although in fairness, the Bushmills does have some natural sweetness which I find pleasant.)

Cheers,
Admiral

[Deactivated Member]

Black Bush and Bushmills 10 are very dissimilar. If you went for a Lowland Scotch, you would be drinking something closer in taste and geographic proximity to Bushmills (Black Bush is 70% Jameson's)

[Aidan]

Hi Nick

I don't think Blackbush is 70% Jameson's. I think it's 80% malt from Bushmills and 20% grain from Midleton. Anyway, I don't know where they will get their grain now that the company has split up, maybe from the same place.

Of course, I could be wrong about this.

[Admiral]

I believe Aidan's 80/20 theory is correct, as I recall Jim Murray writing something similar about Black Bush in one of his books. If the ratio isn't correct, the source distilleries certainly are.

In case you're wondering, we haven't tried the recipe yet, so haven't chosen which whisky to use yet!

Cheers,
Admiral

[Deactivated Member]

The percentage split was 70:30 when I used to go on tours of the distillery, but that was a few years back. I may have got the major:minor constituents the wrong way round.

I still maintain, though, that Black Bush and Bush single malt are a long way apart. Apparently this was intentionally so. Black Bush had always been the premium product and when they created the single malt, they deliberately opted for something that would not challenge Black Bush as the ultimate expression. At least, that's what the boss fella said.

[Wendy]

Hi Admiral,
Lobster meat is quite delicate; I would be leaning towards a whisky that has overtones of citrus, mustard and pepper. I am not too sure if an Irish whisky would fit that description. Maybe one of the others can step in and recommend something that would fit that taste profile. I would be interested to hear what whiskies in your cupboad would may match that description, if in fact, my recommendation appeals to you and your wife. If the recipes also calls for clarified butter, I would also be looking for something light and savoury to compliment the oiliness of the fat and the richness of the meat.
Cheers,
Wendy

[Aidan]

The percentage split was 70:30 when I used to go on tours of the distillery, but that was a few years back. I may have got the major:minor constituents the wrong way round.

I still maintain, though, that Black Bush and Bush single malt are a long way apart. Apparently this was intentionally so. Black Bush had always been the premium product and when they created the single malt, they deliberately opted for something that would not challenge Black Bush as the ultimate expression. At least, that's what the boss fella said.

That's quite possible, alright.

The Bushmills 12 yr old malt available at the distillery is miles better than the 10 yr old. Two years extra in the cask and you get this, so why not release it? Anyway, maybe they use different casks or a different process for the 12.

[Deactivated Member]

Their heidyin actually said that they had identified a gap in the market for a softer, milder tasting malt than Scotch, and that was what the Bush 10 was supposed to fill. There is a lot of loyalty to the Bush 10 in the North. I guess the risk with plumping for the 12 instead is that they might scare off the customers in the North and fail to compete in a crowded market of Scotch malts. Personally, I didn't find the 12 that much to write home about, but I did have my bottle open alongside a 1975 Millennium Malt rather than a 10yo.

I do have a soft spot for Bushmills - it is a very attractive distillery (as pictured on the front of JM's Whisky Bible 2005); it bottles its own whiskey; it holds up a blend as its prime product; and it has some of the most distinctive packaging on the market. And all the more spectacular for coming from somewhere as deeply unappealing as Bushmills.

[Aidan]

It's a very intimidating place if you're from the Republic. Flags everywhere.

[Deactivated Member]

I went there once to find that every single kerbstone in the place had been freshly painted. In terms of sheer length of painting, I have never seen anything like it.

A friend told me that in the Famine, there were workhouses in Coleraine and Ballycastle. After 30 days, you got turfed out. There was therefore a lot of traffic between the two workhouses. Some of the neerdowells who had been banned from both set up camp at the crossing of the river Bush and robbed and thieved from the poor vagrants passing through. Thus was born the settlement known today as Bushmills. Probably apocryphal, but it would explain a lot...

[Lawrence]

Going back to what Wendy said about whisky and lobster, I sometimes make a small dish of Icelandic scallops (quite small) and prawns (larger than shrimp) cooked with some garlic butter and some whisky. For a while I used Laphroaig 10 for that maritime taste but Carollyne likes it much better with Aberlour 10, I simply throw a dsah in at the very end to de glaze the pan and it's done. It works out very well.

[Lawrence]

Going back to what Wendy said about whisky and lobster, I sometimes make a small dish of Icelandic scallops (quite small) and prawns (larger than shrimp) cooked with some garlic butter and some whisky. For a while I used Laphroaig 10 for that maritime taste but Carollyne likes it much better with Aberlour 10, I simply throw a dash in at the very end to de-glaze the pan and it's done.

It works out very well.

[Frodo]

Black Bush and Bushmills 10 are very dissimilar. If you went for a Lowland Scotch, you would be drinking something closer in taste and geographic proximity to Bushmills (Black Bush is 70% Jameson's)

I agree with Nick's assessment! Black Bush and Bushmills are nothing like each other IMO.

Banmber & Bond:

I'm going to have to do a HTH with Auchantoshan & Bushmills 10 to catch up with you. There may be a difference, it's just that I put them in the same catagory of whisky - light and austere.

[Admiral]

I agree with Nick's assessment! Black Bush and Bushmills are nothing like each other IMO.

Come to think of it, I'd have to agree with that comment as well.

After all, I love Black Bush, yet Bushmills 10yo doesn't do much for me at all!

I have half a bottle of Paddy open. Perhaps it might do the trick?

Cheers,
Admiral

[Aidan]

I wouldn't put Paddy with lobster, you risk ruining a good dish. ..

[Frodo]

Yeah, I'm thinking use the worst whisky for cooking, but with lobster? Guess I'd make an exception there.

Aidan:

I've heard Paddy is a very laid-back whisky. Perhaps this might be the ticket for this dish? Never had Paddy though...

[Aidan]

Frodo

Well, it's popular amongst some here, but I think it is very spirity. Just noe my cup of tea at all. I think it's generally used as a mixer.

[Deactivated Member]

Yeah, I'm thinking use the worst whisky for cooking, but with lobster? Guess I'd make an exception there.

The best chefs say if you wouldn't drink it, why would you put it in your food? That goes for whisky, wine, beer, or anything else.