The Old Bushmills Distillery is a distillery in Bushmills, County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It is owned and operated by Diageo plc, and is a popular tourist attraction, with around 120,000 visitors per year. According to the company, a distillery by this name was first recorded in 1743, although at the time it was "in the hands of smugglers" (in a quote attributed to Victorian whiskey journalist Alfred Barnard).
All of the whiskey bottled under the Bushmills whiskey brand is produced at the Bushmills Distillery. A licence to distill in the area was granted to Sir Thomas Phillipps in 1608 by King James I, and the 1608 date is printed on the labels of the Bushmills brand whiskey.
The Bushmills Distillery claims to be—and is almost unanimously considered to be—the oldest licensed distillery in the world.
Read more about Old Bushmills Distillery: History, Current Bushmills Whiskey Range, Retired Bushmills Whiskey Range, Critical Acclaim