BushmillsTM Voted Best Irish Whiskey in the World*

BushmillsTM Irish Whiskey is celebrating after sweeping the board at the prestigious 2010 San Francisco World Spirits Competition. As well as winning Best Irish Whiskey in the World, the Bushmills range picked up two double gold and four gold accolades, making Bushmills one of the few international spirit brands ever to scoop 100% gold in the global competition.

This comes hot on the heels of the range winning three World Whiskies Awards in London earlier this year.

Now in its tenth year, The San Francisco World Spirits Competition is one of the largest and most respected spirits competitions in the world - attracting more than one thousand entries from around the globe. Bushmills took home top awards for its entire range of Irish Whiskies, with the Black Bush and 1608 blends each claiming double gold and Bushmills Original and the 10, 16 and 21 Year Old Single Malt Whiskies all winning gold. Bushmills 1608 was also named Best Irish Whiskey.

Colum Egan, Bushmills Master Distiller, said: "This is an incredible achievement for Bushmills. We like to think that we make the world's finest Irish whiskey – it's great to hear that the experts share that opinion and the team at the distillery are absolutely thrilled. We'll definitely be cracking open a bottle and raising a glass to celebrate our wins!"

In February, at the London ceremony of the 2010 World Whiskies Awards, Bushmills Black Bush was named Best Irish Blended Whiskey (no age), while Bushmills 21 Year Old Single Malt was named World's Best Irish Single Malt Whiskey and Bushmills 16 Year Old Single Malt was named Best Irish Single Malt Whiskey in the 13 – 20 year old category.

Colum Egan added, "We have been making whiskey in the Bushmills area for over 400 years. All of that skill, knowledge and expertise has been poured lovingly back into the whiskey to make Bushmills the best it can be. And this year the global search for someone to 'Make it at Bushmills' opens the doors of the distillery to one lucky winner who will work alongside me for 30 days to learn the secrets that make Bushmills the award-winning Irish whiskey it is today."