J.J. Corry Unveils Tequila- and Mezcal-Cask Finished Irish Whiskey

J.J. Corry Irish Whiskey has announced a new expression called The Battalion, a unique blended Irish whiskey finished in tequila and mezcal casks. There are tequilas aged in bourbon barrels, but the opposite is not something we’ve widely seen done to date that we are aware of, minus a mezcal-finished rye whiskey from Wigle Whiskey recently. Diageo, however, caused a stir last year when it proposed changing the rules defining scotch whisky to allow aging in Don Julio barrels.

The Battalion is named after the Battalion San Patricos, a group of Irish and Irish immigrant soldiers who fought for Mexico in the Mexican-American war. It’s a sourced, 60% 9-year-old grain whiskey and 40% 13-year-old malt whiskey blend bottled at 41% ABV.

“Our latest release is a meticulously blended whiskey with tequila and mezcal cask influence, said J.J. Corry founder Louise McGuane in a prepared statement. “We decanted grain into Mezcal & Tequila [sic] casks and malt into mezcal casks to mature for seven months. We then vatted a grain tequila/mezcal blend we felt best expressed the agave notes we wanted to pull out of those casks. This was then blended with 40% of the 2006 Malt Mezcal influenced whiskey.” The result is an Irish whiskey with “green herbal notes and the slightest touch of agave.”

J.J. Corry started up in 2015, calling itself “Ireland’s first modern whiskey bonder.” As we wrote last year, in Irish whiskey parlance, bonding refers essentially to sourcing and blending, something that was once commonly done by local grocers and pub owners. Like many small distilleries, J.J. Corry is experimenting with unique aging and blending ideas as they wait for their own distillate to mature “in a purpose built bonded rackhouse on the McGuane family farm in Cooraclare, County Clare, Ireland.” The distillery is also reportedly the only all-woman whiskey producer in Ireland.

Like the company’s other expressions, The Battalion imported to the states by Compass Point Imports and is available in New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Tennessee and Georgia to date. It is pricing around £60, or about $80 USD.