In the 1800s and into the early 20^th century, most Irish towns had a whiskey bonder. This would be a merchant licensed to buy whiskey directly from distilleries (who didn’t all bottle and market their produce as assiduously as they do today). The bonder would then age it in his own barrels and bottle individual blends for local hotels and private customers. In the port of Kilrush in County Clare, that whiskey bonder was the grocer JJ Corry. As his shop’s logo put it, he was “noted for high class goods” – and his location, at the mouth of the Shannon, meant that he was at a centre for international trade. Grain, livestock, butter, cloth and rock salt going out… wines and fortified wines coming in. And once he’d sold the port or sherry, the empty barrels allowed him to age his whiskeys in interesting ways. 

Another County Clare native, Louise McGuane, has reinvented the art of whiskey bonding for the 21^st century – under the label JJ Corry, as a nod to the inspiration. McGuane, who has worked around the world for some of the global drinks giants, does not have to wait for casks to come to her like her predecessor. First, she sources the most promising new-make spirit from a growing number of whiskey distilleries all across Ireland. (At one stage in the 1990s, there were only three on the island; now there are over 30 and more opening each year.) She then travels the world, from Spain to the USA, to Mexico and elsewhere, meeting craft drinks makers and expert coopers to acquire unique casks, building an incredible library of classic and experimental flavours in the bonded rackhouse back home on her family’s farm. 

Instead of local landowners and hotels, the clients asking for individual expressions from the 21^st-century Irish whiskey bonder are the world’s top bars and luxury retailers. Take JJ Corry’s The O’Reilly, for example, bottled exclusively for Selfridges (£125). This limited release of just 132 bottles is made up of grain whiskeys from different distilleries – all at least 10 years old – aged in tequila, mezcal and bourbon barrels before blending. The influence of the agave spirits highlights honey and zesty citrus notes, balanced by spicy caramel notes from the bourbon ageing. There is always a story behind each JJ Corry release name. John Patrick O’Reilly is a name celebrated every St Patrick’s Day in Mexico – he led a battalion of Irish soldiers who defected from the Americans to the Mexicans in the war of 1847.

jjcorry.com; selfridges.com