Guitars and whiskey have a long association but Northern Ireland’s Bushmills and George Lowden have formed a particularly close bond with a collaboration resulting in the Bushmills x Lowden Black Bush Edition, the second guitar the two companies have worked together on. Northern Irish musician Foy Vance debuted the guitar at an intimate session in Warehouse No. 2 at The Old Bushmills Distillery with popular Irish band Beoga and poet Jon Plunkett (the full performances can be viewed at www.youtube.com/foyvancemusic).
The guitar features copper from the 10 traditional copper pot stills used to triple distil Bushmills Irish single malt and barrel wood that has been used to mature whiskey for hundreds of years at the world’s oldest licensed whiskey distillery, The Old Bushmills Distillery. The barrel wood has been complemented by African blackwood and Alpine spruce and took more than 100 hours to design and build in the Lowden workshop. Just 25 Bushmills x Lowden Black Bush Edition guitars available to buy from Lowden Guitars, each retailing at £9,800.
George Lowden said: ‘I was fascinated with the copper from the original pot stills at The Old Bushmills Distillery. Not only is it a beautiful metal to work with but it’s amazing to think this
material has had whiskey flowing over it for hundreds of years. Likewise, the sherry casks are literally steeped in whiskey-making heritage and used throughout to perfectly complement the other tone woods. I chose African Blackwood for the back and sides because tonally it is one of the best woods you can get and when paired with Alpine Spruce on the soundboard, it produces a very clear, very strong sound – everything about it is just beautiful.’
