Recreating a Whiskey Bonding Journey for the First Time in over a Century in the Shannon Voyage #whiskeybonder

When I started J.J. Corry there were only three distilleries producing whiskey on the Island of Ireland.  Today there are thirty something. As a whiskey bonder my job is to curate a library of whiskey flavours so that as we mature and blend those stocks we have a varied pallet of flavours to draw from over time. This is what differentiates us from a distillery, we have a still to glass approach, and a wide variety of flavours for the end blend. My goal is to have the most diverse collection of Irish Whiskey stocks on the Island eventually.  This work will come to fruition in the coming years as our stocks diversify and our scope for blending grows. We’ve already dabbled in this by releasing The Hanson, to my knowledge the only “Blended Grain” in the Irish category to date. A very natural release for us given our approach to whiskey making. I foresee blended pot-still, blended malt, and many other iterations of this as time goes on for J.J. Corry.

The Ilen Sails in to Pick up Our Cargo!

Right now its pretty good fun to be a whiskey bonder, there are so many new independent producers coming online with new ideas, revolutionary approaches and counter old school Irish whiskey culture ideas. I Love It. I seek out folks who are taking a non-traditional approach to work with. I already have some pretty fantastic non-Irish Whiskey GI compliant wheat based distillate in the rackhouse and I hope to have more soon. These casks won’t be destined for release as “Irish Whiskey” but they can of course be called “whiskey” as they tick all the other boxes and that’s ok by me! Do I love a bit of innovation and disruption in the industry?  Of course, I love it because it means I am part of a vibrant, evolving and modern industry and that is the kind of industry I want to work in. Does this attitude mean I eschew the past and deny tradition? No, at JJ Corry we respect tradition, but we embrace change.

So, when I chatted to Nick Ryan when he visited us here in Cooraclare I was interested to hear about his Limerick Whiskey project. In my mind its an approach based in that very whiskey specific concept known as a “Sense of Place” and it has a nice bang of terrior and heritage around it too.  I tasted his pot still distillate which is distilled from Limerick Grown Grain commissioned by Nick and I knew I wanted to have it in my flavour library. I also knew that I wanted to do something special around it, as there is a very tight historic connection to what Nick is doing in Limerick and what I am doing in Cooraclare.

Captain Mike Creates a Cradle for the Cask

When J.J. Corry ran his shop in Henry Street from 1890 onwards the town of Kilrush benefited from its enviable location along the then vibrant commercial waterway of the Shannon river. Steam packets ran almost daily from Cappagh Pier to Steamboat Quay in the heart of Limerick City. They ferried tourists in the Summer and goods and sundries year-round. In J.J. Corry’s heyday of whiskey blending there were no distilleries left in Clare, the closest in terms of transport links was Thomond Gate Limerick located on the banks of the Shannon a straight run down the river to Cappagh on any given day. The steam packets of the 1890’s and early 1900’s are gone as is Thomond Gate distillery. I would argue though the spirit of this connection is now very alive and well. Nick has revived the Thomond Gate brand and although he does not have his own distillery just yet he is doing in a way that embodies the soul and the earth of Limerick by focusing on the raw materials that go into this very Limerick Spirit.

As our industry goes through its great market correction, and we begin to rebuild it from the ashes of near collapse in the early 1900’s, many heritage brands are being revived. Some have meaning and some don’t I work hard to make sure J.J. Corry stands for something and I know that Nick does too for Thomond Gate. This is why after sourcing some new make from him I called him up and suggested we celebrate it in a way that pays homage to both our brands past. I wanted to recreate the original journey that Thomond Gate Limerick Whiskey would have taken to Kilrush and into J.J. Corry’s shop and that was via the Shannon River. Initially I planned a big media event with lots of folks on the ship and a dinner and all sorts, but of course that was not possible. There are covid restricting and also we had to work with a timeline because the Ilen Ketch had agreed to transport this cargo for us and they operate to a strict schedule.

The Ilen is an historic and magnificent ship, its home port is Limerick, and it operates as a community and educational vessel, this journey brought to light the historic connections between the lower and upper Shannon. The Shannon Voyage was agreed upon for yesterday May 18^th upon based on weather and tides. So yesterday the Ilen sailed into Limerick to Steamboat Quay apparently the first time its done so under full sail in 50 years, and we loaded it with an ex-bourbon first fill cask containing Limerick Spirit. After a four hour sail it docked at Cappagh Pier, Kilrush and my neighbour Paddy Harvey expertly unloaded it. It was met by quite a few folks some of whom reminisced about how vibrant the pier once was others wanted to showcase goods that would have passed up and down the Shannon in J.J. Corry’s time. It became a real community event.  

 It was a wonderful day and a wonderful celebration of Irish Whiskies rebirth. Nick and I are modern whiskey entrepreneurs celebrating the past whilst very much looking forward and I think this approach is the future of Irish Whiskey.  I’m very glad to have Limerick based spirit as part of our library and I have some interesting re-casking plans in place for it over the coming years.

Irish Rural Regeneration Won’t Happen Without Risk Taking

As Rural As It Gets….

I left Ireland 20 years ago to go to University abroad and I did not return until last year when I set up this business. I did a crowdfunding campaign, converted a cowshed here on site into an office, I launched a Mentorship program, subsequently took on one of our Mentorees as a part time employee and have plunged a lot of our working capital into the local economy. I built a rackhouse and am now maturing whiskey on site.  I’m bringing on two graduates shortly as brand ambassadors and I’m converting a 16th century barn onsite into a tourist attraction which will create a future 2 jobs. In addition I’m applying for planning permission for a bottling line on-site creating additional part time work right here in County Clare.  I could have set my office up in London where my husband lives and where I commute to and from via the wonderful Shannon Airport. If I did  many things would be different and if I am honest a LOT  easier.

I set this business up here in a rural Townland on the West Coast of Ireland. I did it because I believe in this place, in this community and I love it here deep down. From a business perspective though I despair at what I have moved home to. Whilst I treasure the pace of life, the culture, the people and the phenomenal sense of community here I fear all of it is in peril. This part of Ireland has been utterly neglected by the Government since I left 20 years ago, as far as I can ascertain. Our once thriving local market town is dying on its feet with close to NO commercial or cultural investment by public bodies, the local community are keeping it going through sheer force of will and hard work. There are no proper transport links in the surrounding rural areas meaning those who wish to go for a pint in the evening no longer do and are in danger of becoming isolated.  It seems to me that Public services are mismanaged with little accountability and liable to close at the drop of a hat as our local Childcare facility did quite suddenly a few months without an explanation…..

But Sweet Mother of Moses,  the Broadband situation is unfathomable. I’ve travelled all over the world and in particular some poverty stricken villages and bits of jungle in South East Asia, I’ve had better internet connections in rural Filipino villages  than I do here in my office on the farm where my business is based. I’m calling bullshit on that. The reason our broadband is bad and that  it is totally fine in Dublin is because rural Ireland has been ignored.  We have less than 3rd world Wifi here, its a nonsense.

The Townhall the Unused Upstairs Portion of Which will Someday be a Co-working space 

I was happy to hear that as part of the Irish Governments rural regeneration program a co-working facility was announced in my local town of Kilrush. For me this is great news, it means I can hold meetings in a nearby easily accessible town. I can put some of my desk based employees there sometimes  and not have to cram them into our tiny converted cowshed. It should take about 2 months to make this happen. The upstairs of the Local Town Hall has been identified as the space, it would be great.  A co-working area needs a WIFI connection a printer, some desks and plugs, that is all. I created one in a cowshed, I know what it takes. I understand however that in fact it may take some time, like a LOT of time……Co-working  has just started to spread here in Ireland and you’ll see lots of facilities up in Dublin and in Galway, Cork etc. Its a new idea here and a new idea which is unproven means the idea could fail, someone would get blamed and that would be a RISK…

That level of (minuscule) risk is not acceptable to some it seems and therefore this project must now drag on forever until potentially it gets shelved when there is an election or some such.

I have no doubt committees will be formed and meetings will be held to discuss all of this in addition to fire safety, radon pollution issues, (HA!)  health and safety in the shared kitchen, if its even possible to have one SAFELY!!! and insurance. The thinking is that here in Rural Ireland exists a Claims Culture.  I lived in the USA and people over there sue Starbucks if hot coffee spills on them THAT is a claims culture. Before you worry about the  a claims culture, you need to assess the RISK of a bunch of entrepreneurs working in a co-working area.  Unless a strain of Ebola is let loose in the space on purpose as a government experiment, I won’t be making a claim for any injury sustained in a 3rd party co-working space, neither will any other business person. Also think of the benefit weighed against the risk. I would love nothing more than to meet like minded County Clare entrepreneurs for a  chat about potential collaborations in a space like this. It would fuel growth and potentially create additional jobs and export opportunities. I’m already doing this without this space, but this would make it a lot more efficient.

Progress does not happen without risk. Rural Ireland needs progress or it is going to die. Communities are going to become cut off and wither without transport solutions, businesses like mine will base their employees elsewhere due to lack of services and facilities. Entrepreneurs  won’t even CONSIDER basing themselves here without decent Broadband. The heart of this country lies in rural Ireland, it always has, this is what the world looks to when they think of this country. We need to preserve it. As an entrepreneur I am going to continue to do my part broadband or no…..Although there are days like today when I was trying and FAILING to SKYPE a potential customer in Sweden that I seriously consider leaving….

My ask is for our public bodies to have courage take the Risk on moving things forward we need that bravery to ensure Rural Ireland’s future. This Rural Regeneration program is a great initiative. Let’s Not Mess It Up….BE BRAVE.