Jun. 14: Online Tasting with JJ Corry Founder Louise McGuane......
Fellow Drammers!
You’re invited to join us for a special online tasting with Louise McGuane, the founder of JJ Corry Irish Whiskey, which will take place on Saturday June 14th, starting at Noon Pacific / 3pm Eastern in the US and 8pm in Ireland. JJ Corry is an Irish whiskey “bonder”, a term once dominant in Irish whiskey that refers to a company that sources whiskey from multiple places / vintages / maturation settings and combines them artfully as a kind of high-end blender (you might think of them as a kind of Irish take on Compass Box, though it’s a little different). Louise began experimenting with blends in 2013 and ultimately launched the company in 2016. Along the way she sourced some of the best stocks of Irish whiskey, both older expressions as well as from the array of exciting new Irish whiskey distilleries that popped up in the last decade. Our club had the honor of working with Louise to create a custom blend just for our members (the “An Ban Rion” bottling, named in honor of the “Queen” city of Charlotte since our Charlotte members helped create the blend. )
The tasting will feature 11 expressions of JJ Corry, making this one of the most comprehensive tastings of JJ Corry ever presented, and we’re proud to say that our retail partner DRINQY.com carries all 11 expressions, the only retail shop in the US to do so:
Drammers Exclusive - “An Ban Rion” - Custom Blend. Single Pot Still Irish Whiskey matured in Amontillado and PX Sherry casks. Btw, “An Ban Rion” means queen in honor of our Drammers Charlotte members who created it (Charlotte is known as “Queen City” because it was named after Queen Charlotte). 57% abv.
5 Expressions in the Bespoke Bonders Series. Each is 50% abv, 600 bottles globally.
Single Grain Irish Whiskey (2025)
Single Malt Irish Whiskey (2025)
Single Pot Still Irish Whiskey (2025)
Malt/Grain Blend (2025)
Malt/Pot Still Blend (2025)
Two Bonders’ Blends from 2024.
Bonder’s Blend #1 (a malt/grain blend) (2024), 1 of 132 bottles, bourbon and sherry casks. 50% abv
Bonder’s Blend - The Captain (2024), 46% abv, malt / Irish single pot still blend (2024)
Flintlock #5 - 21yo. This award-winning single malt Irish whiskey is aged in ex-bourbon casks, then finished in a Fino sherry from Jerez, Spain. 2025 release (1,200 bottles released globally), 46% abv.
The Gael. This flagship release from JJ Corry has always been a bright fruit bomb or orchard fruits. The whisky is aged in a mix of Irish single malt and grain whiskeys aged in bourbon and sherry casks, and reportedly using a very wide range in terms of age — a mix of parcels aged as little as 5 years and as much as 30 years, which are some of the oldest components in JJ Corry’s warehouses. 46% abv.
The Hanson. The other of JJ Corry’s two flagship releases is a different beast altogether, composed entirely of Irish grain whiskeys that Louise and the team have collected from distilleries across Ireland. We used to say this expression was aged entirely in ex-bourbon casks (1st and 2nd fill), but now their website claims it was aged in ex-bourbon and former “American Craft Whiskey casks”. Does that mean ex-American Single Malt? Something else? We’ll have to ask Louise about that at this event. 46% abv.
That’s our lineup, we hope you can join us!