J.J. Corry Irish Whiskey has made headlines once again, with their latest announcement regarding their newest whiskey “The Whiskey Thief”, a charity bottling that celebrates International Women’s Day 2020. This new charity release was developed in collaboration with Irish design duo Jill & Gill, and will be auctioned with proceeds going to “Dress for Success”.
This incredibly eye catching new release will be exclusively auctioned on the Celtic Whiskey Auctions, on March 16th 2020, Only 100 bottles of this blended grain whiskey have been crafted for this charity auction. All proceeds will go to “Dress for Success” a women’s charity that campaigns for year round gender equality in the workplace. Louise McGuane, founder of J.J. Corry, spoke at the launch of The Whiskey Thief, stating that herself and her team have long admired the creative duo Jill & Gill as fellow female founders, so the collaboration made perfect sense. Finally, speaking of pairing with their charity partner, “Dress for Success”, Louise explained how it has been an honour to support their tremendously valuable work in empowering women in need and providing advocates for gender equality.
Taking a look at the whiskey itself, the name Whiskey Thief refers to a tool used in whiskey warehouses in order to take samples from the barrels, which can also be known as a ‘Valinch’. This is particularly an apt name for a J.J. Corry release, as the company is exclusively operating as a Whiskey Bonder, which makes a whiskey thief a very valuable asset in the J.J. Corry warehouses. Louise has been championing the art of whiskey bonding in Ireland and working tirelessly to curate her collection of maturing casks, to craft some fantastically bespoke whiskey offerings, which require amble sampling opportunities… putting her whiskey thief to good work.
J.J. Corry Irish Whiskey has gained international recognition in recent years for their bespoke, small scale releases that may reflect an incredibly elevated craft beer model. Louise and her team work with a series of hand-picked clients and retailers to peruse the J.J. Corry Atlantic warehouse to craft carefully curated, bespoke expressions from the fantastic array of barrels that they have maturing. This ensures that every blend and expression released, is bespoke to their client. This style of curating small scale releases has enabled J.J. Corry to become an ever evolving brand that intrigues whiskey drinkers and collectors on an almost bi-monthly basis. With only 100 bottles of the Whiskey Thief going under the hammer on the 16th, this release will likely be no different from the rest.
So, what’s actually in the bottle anyway?
The liquid itself is a first for J.J. Corry and could be one of the first in the Irish whiskey community too. The J.J. Corry Whiskey Thief is a Blended Grain Irish Whiskey, which sees multiple distilleries’ grain whiskeys matured independently before being vatted together for bottling.
For most whiskey companies, the exact blend of whiskeys in a bottling usually remains a mystery. This is not the case for J.J. Corry releases, in-fact, revealing all has become somewhat of a hallmark for the J.J. Corry releases. As such the Whiskey Thief blend is comprised of the following:
50% Cask 4254 – 10 Year Old Single Grain
30% Cask 2272 – 10 Year Old Single Grain
20% Cask 818 – 4 Year Old Single Grain
These whiskeys are vatted together and bottled at 46% ABV (92 Proof).
The official tasting notes are:
Nose: Bright and sweet with lemon meringue pie and toffee.
Palate: Fresh with sweet citrus, crème brulee and honey.
It is a mystery just what these bottles will achieve at auction, although, knowing the historic interest in the J.J. Corry brand coupled with a small 100 bottle release, there is no doubt that there will be a healthy interest in this auction on the 16th.