J.J. Corry Irish Whiskey, Ireland’s first modern whiskey bonder, has launched The Battalion, a blended Irish Whiskey with Mezcal and Tequila cask influence.
The Battalion is a 60% 9 Year old Grain and 40% 13 Year old Malt Blend bottled at 41%.
Batch 1 will consist of an edition of 700 bottles in 500ml format with an RRP of 65 euro.
Irish whiskey is in a unique place, that allows a good scope of innovation for the products within the category. This allows for whiskey companies to stretch the bounds of traditionalism and create products that are brilliantly differentiated, allowing the consumers to experience products that would otherwise be impossible to find in any other categories of whisk(e)y across the world.
Louise McGuane, founder of JJ Corry Irish whiskey, has taken these reigns of innovation to deliver a world’s first for Irish whiskey, which pays tribute to the Battalion of Saint Patrico’s. These were a group of Irish men who fought for Mexico in the Mexican American war of 1846/48. This Battalion was comprised mainly of Irish immigrants from the West Coast of Ireland, who defected from the American side to fight for the Mexicans.
A whiskey in either of these casks would already be a world’s first for the category, however, founder Louise has proven that she does not do things by halves.
The Battalion is crafted using 9 year old grain and 13 year old malt whiskeys that Louise has sourced and been maturing for the last number of years in her traditional clay floored, dunnage style warehouse in Cooralclare on the West Coast of Ireland.
The blend is comprised of 60% of the aforementioned grain whiskey, which spent the formative years of its life in ex-bourbon barrels before spending 7 months in Tequila casks, and the final 40% of the blend is crafted using single malt whiskey that was distilled in 2006, which having also spent most of its life in ex-bourbon barrels, it then spent its final months before bottling finishing in Mezcal barrels.
Louise told us how “this is not simply a ‘finished’ whiskey but in-fact a whiskey that was truly influenced by both the Mezcal and Tequila flavours”. She explained how the blending process was one of liquid investigation, as being a first mover means you must write the rulebook when it comes to blending flavours, as there is nothing you can compare to.
“After allowing the component whiskeys to finish in both the Tequila and Mezcal barrels, respectively, we deep dived into the flavours that each cask possessed, before trialing different percentages in the blend, we hoped to produce something that best encapsulated the herbal characteristics of the agave without losing the Irish whiskey base. The result is something really unique (literally), with green herbal notes, and the slightest touch of agave.”
Louise proudly explained how as modern Irish whiskey bonders, it is her team’s duty to always be searching for interesting flavours to influence the whiskeys that she releases. She added that her team loves taking inspiration from artisanal producers from around the world, and in this case, Mexico.
JJ Corry’s Battalion is bottled at 41% ABV (82 Proof) and is available from today with a Batch 1 recommended retail price of €65, with a total batch run of 700 bottles.
To listen to the company story of JJ Corry and the trials and tribulations of reviving Ireland’s lost art of Whiskey Bonding, listen in to Louise on our Potstilled Radio podcast, here.