Where the World's Oldest Whiskey Meets Golf's Freshest Brand
There's a version of golf — the one your grandfather played — where the sport's relationship with whiskey was implied, ambient, and mostly confined to the back corner of the 19th-hole bar. A tumbler of something amber, a quiet handshake, a grudging nod to a well-played round. Nobody put it on a jacket. Nobody built a capsule collection around it. That was then. What Bushmills Irish Whiskey and Malbon Golf are doing right now is something categorically different: they're turning a 400-year-old distilling legacy into a design language, and doing it with enough authenticity that the result doesn't feel like a marketing stunt — it feels like a genuine cultural statement.
Malbon's latest collaboration swaps the usual streetwear or tour-brand partner for something with a little more age on it: Bushmills Irish Whiskey. The pairing is unconventional enough to turn heads, but coherent enough that it makes obvious sense once you sit with it. Both brands share a stubborn refusal to do things the obvious way. Both have built their identities around independence, craftsmanship, and the slow, deliberate rejection of the mainstream. The fact that it took until 2024 for these two to find each other almost feels overdue.
A First for Both Brands — and a Second Act Even Better Than the First
For each brand, this partnership marks a first: for Bushmills Irish Whiskey, this was the company's first trip to the golf apparel space; and for Malbon, it was the first time taking its signature Buckets logo to a spirits icon — though they had waded into the beverage space before with brands like Coca-Cola and Budweiser. That initial 2024 drop proved that the chemistry was real. In 2024, they teamed up to celebrate the friendships made on the course that continue into the clubhouse, and now the celebration travels overseas.
Stephen Malbon, co-founder of Malbon Golf, put it plainly: "Following last year's successful collaboration with Bushmills, which reimagined the timeless pairing of whiskey and golf, we knew we had to go even bigger for our second drop. With the world's oldest golf tournament unfolding in the distillery's backyard, we're excited to debut a collection that infuses the spirit and flavor of Northern Ireland's North Coast into modern golf style."
That instinct to go bigger was validated by circumstance. Bushmills partnered with Malbon again for a new capsule collection celebrating Northern Ireland's longstanding heritage and contribution to both the game of golf and the world of whiskey — a collection that arrived just ahead of the 153rd Open Championship, held at Royal Portrush, just around the corner from the Bushmills Distillery. Including 2025, The Open has only been hosted in Northern Ireland three times, with previous events at Royal Portrush in 1951 and 2019. Timing a collection drop to one of the rarest intersections in championship golf history is either incredibly lucky or incredibly well-planned. Given these two brands, it was almost certainly the latter.
The 2024 Collection: Where It All Started
The original collaboration resulted in a six-piece capsule that included two hats, two T-shirts, and one crewneck, plus a highly anticipated leather flask that doubles as a tee holder and can be conveniently attached to a golf bag for easy access. That flask alone told you everything you needed to know about the intent behind the collection. It wasn't decorative. It was functional, clever, and specifically designed for the guy who takes his round seriously but doesn't take himself too seriously.
In terms of style, the capsule brought the laid-back, California-cool street style accents that Malbon does so well, infused with Bushmills' storied, old-school-but-not-old-fashioned confidence and expertise. The restrained color palette of white and black with hints of Bushmills' cerulean and gold was classic and smooth. It was golf apparel that could hold its own in a streetwear conversation — which is precisely what Malbon has always been about.
Central to the collection was a custom leather flask, designed to hold Bushmills Irish Whiskey and golf tees, easily attachable to a golf bag. This innovative accessory not only enhanced the golfing experience but also served as Malbon's first-ever flask, crafted for the new generation of golfers who value both style and functionality.
Stephen Malbon, the founder of Malbon Golf, summed up the shared philosophy: "Just as we at Malbon are always looking to push the envelope when it comes to golf apparel, Bushmills has also been doing their own thing in the whiskey space since 1608. It's with that spirit in mind that we created this collection for anyone who charts their own course, on or off the green."
The 2025 Collection: Going Deeper Into Heritage
County Antrim Plaid as a Design Foundation
If the 2024 drop was about testing the waters — proving that whiskey and golf apparel could share a label without looking desperate — the 2025 collection is about diving in headfirst. The new celebration travels overseas, with a collection of apparel and accessories inspired by the fashion popularized first on Ireland's Northern Coast: County Antrim plaid. That's not a superficial design choice. County Antrim is Bushmills' home. The distillery sits on the northeastern tip of Ireland, surrounded by coastline and farmland that inspired the pattern at the core of this drop.
Inspired by the Irish tartan, the plaid-like pattern symbolizes Bushmills' home and heritage in Northern Ireland's County Antrim, featuring a green base with accents of navy blue, yellow, and rust red stripes — a classic style, reimagined for performance and comfort. Malbon didn't simply apply a heritage pattern to performance fabric and call it a day. The collection draws from County Antrim's traditional Irish plaid, but Malbon has twisted it into something that feels fresh without losing its roots — heritage patterns that work just as well in the clubhouse as they do on the street.
What's in the Box: A Full Lineup Built to Travel
The 12-piece collection leans hard into Bushmills' 400-year distilling history, pulling design cues from the brand's vintage advertising archive. Design-wise, it's heritage plaid, tailored cuts, and earth-toned separates built to move from the first tee to wherever the day ends up.
The collection's apparel includes T-shirts, hooded and non-hooded sweatshirts, vests, windbreakers, hats, and visors, all featuring co-branded Malbon x Bushmills iconography. But the accessories are where things get genuinely interesting. Accessories include a flask and luggage tag set, Glencairn set, and decanter. A Glencairn glass set in a golf collaboration is a confident move — it signals that Bushmills isn't treating this as a merchandising exercise. They're speaking directly to the whiskey drinker who happens to love golf, and the golfer who happens to love whiskey, which, as it turns out, is a significant slice of the market.
The flask and luggage set features navy leather wrapped around a gold flask — the epitome of Irish craftsmanship and style, with a cohesive matching tag designed to accompany golf or travel gear. The windbreaker is built for weathering conditions as unpredictable as the Northern Irish coast, made with nylon as a premium yet practical layer designed to move with golfers in a legendary fashion.
For the first time, a co-branded bespoke accessories collection accompanies the drop, including items authentically crafted in Ireland. That detail matters more than it might seem. Plenty of brand collaborations produce goods stamped with dual logos but assembled with no particular geographic or cultural connection to either partner. Bushmills and Malbon made the opposite call.
Returning Favorites and New Debuts
In addition to returning the most popular pieces from the 2024 collection, this capsule debuts new signature items for the course, the clubhouse, and the home. From comfort hoodies and T-shirts to vests and visors, this capsule is created for the next generation of golfers. The lineup spans everything from everyday essentials like tees and hoodies to premium touches like windbreakers and luggage sets that actually make you want to travel. That last point is worth noting — this is gear designed for the kind of golfer who books a trip to Lahinch or Ballybunion or Portrush and needs his kit to function both at sunrise on the links and over a dram at the hotel bar afterward.
Why This Partnership Makes More Sense Than It Might First Appear
A Distillery Built for the Long Game
The North Coast of Ireland isn't just dramatic cliffs and crashing waves — it's where the world's oldest licensed whiskey distillery has been perfecting its craft since 1608. That's not marketing copy. Bushmills received its license in the early 17th century, making it genuinely, verifiably ancient by any spirits industry standard. Now owned by Proximo Spirits, Bushmills has expanded its portfolio significantly in recent years, with a product line that includes a wide range of age-stated core products and limited-edition offerings that appeal to a diverse range of whiskey drinkers.
The Irish whiskey category itself has been on a sustained upward trajectory. "Having doubled in size over the past 10 years, the Irish whiskey category continues to attract new drinkers who are looking for more premium single malt offerings," said Lander Otegui, SVP Marketing at Proximo Spirits. A collaboration with a culturally forward golf brand is a smart way to reach exactly those new drinkers — people who may not already be Irish whiskey loyalists but who respond to authenticity, craft, and good design.
Bushmills' Expanding Presence in Golf
The Malbon partnership doesn't exist in a vacuum. Bushmills has been deliberately positioning itself within the golf world for several years now. In 2023, the PGA TOUR announced a four-year partnership with Bushmills Irish Whiskey, which was named the "Official Whiskey of PGA TOUR and PGA TOUR Champions." Bushmills joined the PGA TOUR across upcoming tournaments to introduce the storied brand to golf fans who choose to chart their own course and try a new style of whiskey.
As part of the TOUR's Official Marketing Partner program, Bushmills launched a new national retail suite, full-service digital campaign, branded onsite activations, and consumer sweepstakes giving fans across participating markets access to exclusive PGA TOUR rewards — while also serving signature Irish coffees and introducing a range of aged single malts from its onsite whiskey bar. The Malbon collaboration, then, is the cultural and fashion-forward arm of a broader golf strategy — one that covers everything from tournament hospitality to apparel to accessories.
Malbon's Rise and What It Signals for the Industry
To understand why Bushmills sought out Malbon specifically, you have to understand what Malbon has actually done to golf apparel over the last several years. Their fusion of hip-hop, surf, skate, and art-world influence with golf attire was a stark departure from tradition and eventually caught the attention of pro golfer Jason Day, who began wearing Malbon apparel in 2024, bringing the brand to a global audience. The "sweater vest incident" at the 2025 Masters brought even more press and attention to the brand. Malbon has always approached their business model through a modern lens, with limited-edition drops, collaboration-heavy collections, and digital experiences built into the DNA of its operations.
With Bushmills a longtime presence in Buckets Club, this collaboration brings together two like-minded innovators — blending the heritage of Irish whiskey with the modern spirit of the game. That pre-existing relationship gave the partnership a natural foundation. This wasn't a cold pitch from a spirits marketing department. It was two brands that had already been occupying the same cultural space, deciding to make it official.
Stephen Malbon explained the broader vision in an interview: "We're trying to show what the new face of golf is and what the new face of whiskey is together. Back in the day, when people thought about golf, they thought about it in one certain way: kind of dusty, kind of old school." The goal, clearly, is to shed that perception — for both golf and whiskey simultaneously. In that respect, no single collab partner could be better suited to Malbon than a distillery that has been making world-class single malt since before the United States existed as a country, yet somehow still manages to feel contemporary.
The Design Philosophy: Heritage Without the Dust
This is Malbon doing what it does best: taking an established brand with real heritage and filtering it through a modern golf lens instead of just slapping a logo on a polo. That distinction is crucial and too often overlooked in conversations about brand collaborations. The easiest version of this partnership would have been a polo shirt with both logos embroidered on the chest, retailing at $120, worn once and forgotten. Instead, both teams went back to source material — Bushmills' vintage advertising archive, the textile traditions of County Antrim, the actual visual and cultural history of the distillery — and used those as creative inputs rather than decorative afterthoughts.
The newest line of apparel encourages golfers to showcase their own style while also paying homage to the tradition and legacy of Bushmills Irish Whiskey. A distillery known for not compromising and a golf brand associated with pushing the boundaries: a match made in 19th-hole heaven. Both brands have earned their reputations by being particular — Bushmills about its single malt process, Malbon about its creative direction. The collaboration reflects that shared pickiness in every detail, from the choice of plaid pattern to the navy leather wrapping on the flask.
More than just a collaboration, the Bushmills x Malbon Capsule Collection honors the traditions, landscapes, and people of Ireland. Every piece echoes the spirit of where we come from and how we play now. That's a design brief that could easily produce something precious and overwrought, but the execution stays grounded. The pieces are wearable on an actual golf course by an actual golfer — not just photographed on a model in a distillery courtyard.
A Broader Trend With Real Legs
The collection is the latest addition in the growing trend of unique partnerships between golf and food and drink that seek to capitalize on the sport's growing fanbase, which continues to skew younger and broader as more people find themselves in the sport — in part thanks to the visibility such partnerships offer. That fanbase shift is real and documented. Golf's demographic has been expanding meaningfully, driven in part by accessibility, social media, and brands like Malbon making the sport feel less like a country club obligation and more like a legitimate lifestyle choice.
Golf and whiskey share a common thread: they are best enjoyed with friends. Inspired by the camaraderie that blossoms on the golf course and continues into the 19th hole, the Bushmills x Malbon collection introduces fresh designs that blend the iconic symbols of both brands. That's not just a tagline — it's a positioning strategy that taps into something genuinely true about how men experience both of these things. The round doesn't end when you walk off 18. The conversation continues. The whiskey comes out. The collaboration understands that arc, and it's designed accordingly.
The collection's message is a blend of two historic interests that have found themselves culturally intertwined for centuries. It seems only fitting that golf's oldest tournament is being played just miles from the world's oldest licensed whiskey distillery. Geography, history, craft, and contemporary design — all arriving at the same moment. That kind of alignment doesn't happen by accident, and it doesn't get replicated easily by competitors looking to run a similar play. This partnership has earned its authenticity the hard way, by going all the way back to 1608 to find it.
Where to Get It and What to Expect
The Bushmills and Malbon collection is available at Bushmills.com/malbon and malbongolf.com, and is also available at the Bushmills Distillery. That last point is meaningful. A piece purchased at the distillery itself — steps from where every bottle of Bushmills has been produced for over four centuries — carries a weight that no online checkout can replicate. For anyone planning a links trip to Ireland, walking out of the Bushmills Distillery with a piece from the Malbon collaboration is the kind of souvenir that actually makes sense.
The new Bushmills x Malbon Capsule Collection not only honors Bushmills' heritage but truly captures the spirit of the sport. It's a tribute to those who forge their own path, whether that's pushing boundaries in single malt whiskey innovation or building a golf apparel empire. Together, Bushmills x Malbon brings forward an appreciation for genuine craftsmanship with masterful sophistication in each curated piece.
If there's a criticism to be made, it's only that the collection is limited — and limited drops have a way of ending before most people realize they've started. For anyone on the fence about whether a whiskey brand has any business being on your back nine wardrobe rotation, the answer, based on what these two have built together over two collection cycles, is a fairly emphatic yes. The only thing left to figure out is what you're pouring into that flask when you tee it up.
