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BUSHMILLS |
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The next stop on the main road beyond the Causeway is BUSHMILLS ,
whose foremost attraction is the Old Bushmills Distillery , on the
outskirts of town. Whiskey has been distilled here legally since 1608,
making it the oldest licit distillery in the world, and it's well worth
making the tour (April-Oct Mon-Sat 9.30am-5.30pm, Sun noon-5.30pm, last
tour 4pm; Nov-March Mon-Fri tours at 10.30am, 11.30am, 1.30pm, 2.30pm &
3.30pm; £3.50). Bushmills whiskey is distilled three times, once more
than Scotch; but perhaps the biggest surprise is just how unsubtle a
business the industrial manufacture of alcohol is, despite all the lore
that surrounds it. The distillery is a massive factory where an
extraordinary range of (mostly unpleasant) smells assail your nostrils,
making it difficult to imagine that the end product really does delight
the taste buds. All the same, at the end of the tour you're offered a
tot of the hard stuff. The best bet is the unblended malt,
representative of what goes on in Bushmills itself, as the grain whiskey
that goes into the blend is almost all distilled in Cork; alternatively
ask for a tot of Coleraine whiskey, only a tiny amount of which is still
produced. They also serve hot toddies, which may be more in order in
winter. To find the distillery follow the signs from the cenotaph in the
centre of town - it's barely a quarter of a mile.
Accommodation is mostly out of town. Ahimsa , 243 Whitepark Rd (tel
028/2073 1383; £26-33), with an organic garden and good vegetarian meals
, offers inexpensive accommodation in a modernized traditional cottage.
Just about the only cheap place in Bushmills itself is Ardeevin , 145
Main St (tel 028/2073 1661; £33-40), on the road out to the distillery.
The very best rooms in town are at the Bushmills Inn , 25 Main St (tel
028/2073 2339; innkeepers@bushmills-inn.com ; £90-110), a former
coaching inn with cottage-style interior complete with secret room and
peat fires, and a superb restaurant which features such delights as beef
fillet flamed in (naturally) Bushmills whiskey; allow at least £20 per
head. You should at least pop in for a drink in the gaslit bar while
waiting for the bus (which stops outside). There's more luxury at
Killen's , 28 Ballyclough Rd (tel 028/2074 1536; £70-90), a converted
nineteenth-century schoolhouse four miles southwest of town off the
Coleraine Road; it's well equipped with swimming pool, sauna and
solarium and a restaurant with excellent local produce.
A detour westwards along the minor coast road from Bushmills will take
you a mile to PORTBALLINTRAE , a decorous little place with
accommodation at the plush Beach Hotel , 61 Beach Rd (tel 028/2073 1453;
info@beachhousehotel.com ; £70-90), or en-suite B&B at nearby Bayhead
House , 1a Bushfoot Drive (tel 028/2073 2501; £33-40). There's camping
at the caravan park on Ballaghmore Ave (April-Oct; tel 028/2073 1478)
and good fishing from the tiny harbour which you can watch from the
conservatory of Sweeney's Wine Bar , 68 Seaport Ave (tel 028/2073 2405),
housed in converted stables dating from the seventeenth century and
serving tasty, reasonably priced meals .
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