Hall of Fame

Helen has a nose in a million – a nose that truly understands all the intricate notes, aromas and flavours of whiskey. It is a gift and plays such an important part in crafting the Bushmills Irish Whiskey premium blends and aged single malts.

With a Master’s Degree in Science, Helen began her career in the small laboratory at The Old Bushmills Distillery and today, after 25 years, she is steeped in the art of whiskey-making and blending, and she is immensely proud of the worldwide appreciation of Bushmills triple-distilled Irish whiskey.

Helen describes the process of sampling and choosing whiskeys as a sensory journey of sight, smell and taste and she revels in helping new blends, most recently the new rum cask reserve, part of The Steamship Collection – the Global Travel Retail exclusive range of rare cask-matured Bushmills single malt Irish whiskeys.

Helen nurtures her casks and spends time in the warehouses to ‘awaken the sleeping spirits’ – her description of sampling – in order to make her decisions on composition.