This 400-Year-Old Whiskey Brand Is The World's Oldest In Existence. (Yes, It's Irish)

In April 1608, King James I, who ruled Ireland, Scotland, and England, granted Sir Thomas Phillips the first legal license to distill aqua vitae (Latin for "water of life," aka the precursor to whiskey) in what is now the village of Bushmills in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. Whiskey, or uisce beatha in Irish Gaelic, had a history in the area going as far back as the 13th century. In making the royal grant, King James I was attempting to control the rampant illegal distilling of whiskey in Ireland. It also laid the groundwork for what would eventually become the Bushmills brand and its claim to being the oldest working distillery in the world.

Hundreds of years later, Bushmills remains an essential whiskey brand that is still made in the town that gave it its name and continues to use water from St. Columb's Rill, a tributary of the River Bush. Still, it wasn't until 1784 that a man named Hugh Anderson officially incorporated The Old Bushmills Distillery Company, truly marking its origins as a brand. Bushmills' history is complex and fraught with ups and downs, but it's still here and thriving.

The original grantee of the distilling license, Sir Thomas Phillips, was an English soldier of fortune with ties to the British Crown. He fought in service of the king and later became governor of Coleraine, the district that included County Antrim. But whether he actually did any distilling is unknown. Bushmills' history truly begins with Hugh Anderson in the late 18th century. Even so, the brand has often touted the 1608 birthdate in its advertising. It's featured on its labels and in 2008, the distillery released a limited-edition expression aptly called "1608."

Its birthdate aside, Bushmills has managed to survive through catastrophes, wars, famine, Prohibition in the United States, and a succession of owners. The distillery nearly shuttered in the 1850s when the Crown levied a malt tax, which raised the price of malted barley. While many distillers changed their recipes, Bushmills paid the tax to maintain the integrity of its whiskey. Then in 1885, the original distillery went up in flames and had to be rebuilt. In 1888, the distillery introduced the recipe for its Bushmills Original that includes a hefty percentage of single malt in its blend that's triple distilled (one of the differences between Irish whiskey and Scottish whisky that Irish whiskey is typically triple distilled). Today, the spirits giant Proximo owns Bushmills and has invested millions of dollars in the brand, helping to make it an Irish whiskey to know for St. Patrick's Day or any day, for that matter.