It's as if the earth were offering God his choice of 37,000 six-sided cigarettes. The shore is covered with largely hexagonal pillars that stick up at various heights. This five-mile-long stretch of coastline - the highlight of the entire coast - is famous for its bizarre basalt columns. In summer, call ahead to put in your name and get a tour time. Tours are limited to 30 people and book up.
(The still is still on weekends and in July). To see the distillery at its lively best, visit when the 100 workers are staffing the machinery - Monday morning through Friday noon.
Hot-drink enthusiasts might enjoy a cinnamon-and-cloves hot toddy. Visitors get a single glass of their choice. You'll see thousands of oak casks - the kind used for Spanish sherry - filled with aging whiskey. The 45-minute tour starts with the mash pit, which is filled with a porridge that eventually becomes whiskey. Distillery tours waft you through the process, making it clear that Irish whiskey is triple distilled - and therefore smoother than Scotch whisky (distilled merely twice and minus the "e").
CASTLE ON THE COAST OF IRELAND LICENSE
Though King James I (of Bible translation fame) only granted Bushmills its license to distill "Aqua Vitae" in 1608, whiskey has been made here since the 13th century. Old Bushmills Distilleryīushmills claims to be the world's oldest distillery. The ruins themselves are dotted with plaques that show interesting artists' renditions of what the place would have looked 400 years ago. While it's one of the largest castles in Northern Ireland and is beautifully situated, there's precious little left to see among Dunluce's broken walls.īefore entering, catch the eight-minute video about the history of the castle (across from the ticket desk). The countess of Antrim packed up and moved inland, and the castle "began its slow submission to the forces of nature." That was the last straw for the lady of the castle. But on a stormy night in 1639, dinner was interrupted as half of the kitchen fell into the sea, taking the servants with it. During the Middle Ages, the castle was a prized fortification. These romantic ruins, perched dramatically on the edge of a rocky headland, are a testimony to this region's turbulent past.
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