What's the Craic?

Sandwiched in between another Lockdown extension and the weekly dose of #clapforourcarers, Wessex Whiskey* (*not a typo) enjoyed the 4th tasting night of 2020; J.J. Corry ‘The Gael’ Batch 1 + 2. The hosts for the evening were 2 lovely lassies from J.J. Corry; Louise the Founder, and Niamh the UK Brand Ambassador, who we joined virtually through Zoom (along with 12 unfamiliar faces who dialled in to the wrong Zoom call!). After we booted the imposters out, and John McCheyne let Louise and Niamh get a word in edgeways, we were settled down for our Irish Whiskey History Lesson. For many, including me, this was our first real insight into Irish Whiskey, and it’s interesting History.

Broken Heritage; Broken Tradition. This phrase was one of the first things that Louise said, and it stuck. In the 1800s, Irish Whiskey was booming; rumour has it that there were over 1000 distillers! These distillers would sell wholesale new make spirit to ‘Bonders’, or ‘Blenders’ as we would say in Scotland, who would age and blend the whiskey.

However, by the early 20th Century, Irish Whiskey was on the verge of collapse, caused by a plethora of unfortunate events. In 1914, when Ireland was under British Rule, the commencement of WW1 meant that Irish barley was redirected from the distilleries to the front line. In 1918/19, the Irish war of Independence and the spread of the Spanish Flu (no Zoom tastings in those days!) closed many of the Dublin distilleries. In 1920, the prohibition in the US shut off a major export market for Irish Whiskey. And, just to add to the severe turbulence that Irish Whiskey had battled through, Britain banned exports of Whiskey from the new Irish Free State to the commonwealth, allowing Scotch Whisky to flourish. Only 4 distilleries survived; Jameson, John Powers, Cork Distillers and Bushmills. 3 of these distilleries merged in 1966 to become Irish Distillers (IDL), which created a Monopoly for a fair few decades. These distilleries created individual whiskey brands, ‘turning off the tap’ to the Bonders, and the art of Whiskey Bonding died out.

The Bonders. The current global movement in independent distilling is being capitalised by Ireland, and there are now around 35/40 independent distilleries! JJ Corry have jumped on this opportunity, and are resurrecting the Whiskey Bonding business model, whilst employing modern day know-how to bring the 19th century technique into the 21st century. More information on J.J. Corry’s history, and where the name came from, can be found on their website at www.chapelgatewhiskey.com.

What’s the Craic? Now we had all passed our GCSE in Irish Whiskey History, we could move onto the A Level tasting class (although I think most of us had nearly finished both drams!). We were trying JJ Corry’s first blended release, ‘The Gael’ Batch 1 + Batch 2. I am certainly no whiskey connoisseur, and my pallet has been diminished by years of Buckfast and Pizza Crunch, so the following tasting notes are a collective agreement from Louise, Niamh and the rest of the professionals at Wessex Whisky! I think we (they) all agreed that both batches were like night and day. Batch 1 (7500 bottles) had more of a Summer taste, with green apple/bergamot on the nose, and tropical fruits/citrus to the taste. Someone, who I think had been on an all day sesh, likened it to a can of Tropicana…! A very easy drinking dram, which I think was a real surprise to most. Batch 2 (2300 bottles), the older more mature member of The Gael clan, was certainly more of a ‘winter warmer’. The can of Tropicana had matured and mellowed, and it was a lot ‘oilier’ on the pallet, with notes of softer, riper fruits and a big dose of peppercorn.

Scores on the Doors? Everyone agreed that there was a significant difference in both batches, with an equal mix of preference for each one. The team provided their ‘scores on the doors’, with Batch 1 achieving an average 7.1/10, and Batch 2 6.9/10. Some said they’d buy it, some said they wouldn’t. That’s the joy of the diversity of drams and individual palates. Both sell at around £70 per bottle (source: masterofmalt.com), so for me, I won’t be purchasing. Although I really did enjoy Batch 1, and would certainly drink again.

Cheers to Louise and Niamh for hosting and educating us on J.J. Corry; another top ‘Virtual Lockdown’ night at Wessex Whisky. Looking forward to tasting in person at the William Walker (whenever that may be…!).

Sláinte.