Louise McGuane is a 20+ year veteran of the drinks industry, having spent her career working on some of the world's best known wine and spirits brands all over the globe. 

Growing up in a small town on the West coast of Ireland, Louise  was raised with a deep respect for her Irish roots and a passion for chasing new opportunities. After working internationally in the wine and spirits industry for many years, her evolution from small-town farm girl to Irish Whiskey pioneer came full circle when she returned home with a new-found commitment to elevating Irish Whiskey on the global stage.

After finishing a degree in Philosophy and spending time in Boston, Massachusetts, Louise moved to New York City to work in marketing and communications at a global Champagne company. Here, she learned the complexities of the drinks industry and built a career that took her as far as Singapore and Mexico. These experiences not only helped her become well-versed in the industry but reconnected her to her love for her Irish heritage.

Louise returned to Ireland for a summer to research the global significance of Irish Whiskey and discovered the prominent role it had in her country’s history. In 2016 she returned home to Ireland, at the beginning of the Irish Whiskey Renaissance.  Inspired by JJ Corry – an Irish Whiskey bonder from the 1800s that she discovered during her research and after whom her company is named – she sought to develop new ways to create remarkable spirits. She founded J.J. Corry Irish Whiskey and became the first modern whiskey bonder on the island of Ireland in over a century, thereby resurrecting a lost craft. 

Today, JJ Corry is renowned in the Irish Whiskey category, and,  in their latest venture, Louise has partnered with The Last Drop Distillers to create The Last Drop's first-ever Irish Whiskey, Release No. 32: A 32 Year Old Single Malt Irish Whiskey – a landmark moment for the business. 

In this episode, Louise talks to Rebecca about an idyllic childhood growing up on the family farm in the  west of Ireland, being expelled from boarding school and working all over the world, before returning home to her roots to found her business.

BEANIE GERAEDTS-ESPEY IS THE MANAGING DIRECTOR OF DISTILLERS VENTURES LIMITED, THE CHARITABLE ARM  of London Livery Company, the Worshipful Company of Distillers. As such, she is responsible for the Distillers One of One Auction: a bi-annual charity auction which can lay claim to being the largest Scotch Whisky Auction in the world.

However, in addition to her current role, Beanie has many other reasons to be our eighth guest on The Remarkable: her father is James Espey, OBE, a man with an illustrious career in the drinks industry (and an OBE for services to Scotch Whisky), and also – with Rebecca’s father, Tom – the co-founder of The Last Drop Distillers. Beanie and Rebecca joined The Last Drop together in 2014, and were joint managing directors until 2018.

Beanie is an accomplished luxury brand builder with a passion for whisky – and sherry!  Following a degree in modern languages at the University of Oxford, Beanie joined L’Oreal and built her early career in beauty, with both L’Oreal and Chanel, in the UK and Hong Kong. In Hong Kong, she founded her own small marketing agency which led her to begin working with James and The Last Drop. “I grew up surrounded by the drinks industry and – in fact – my parents met while both working at IDV, so I suppose it was inevitable that I’d end up in the industry at some stage.”

Over the last few years, Beanie has set up her own boutique sherry brand, worked with Rebecca to build their fathers’ vision into a truly remarkable business, and embark on her latest role as the MD of Distillers’ Ventures. This auction, which brings the biggest and smallest names in the Scotch Whisky industry together with a shared interest, was set up “to attract the attention of a global network of buyers”, attending in person, calling in or bidding online from the four corners of the world.

The proceeds of the auction, run by Sotheby’s, go to support the work of the Youth Action Fund. Beanie says, “we made a commitment that 100% of the proceeds will go to charity, and 90% of it will flow directly back to Scotland, to provide long term support for charities working to transform the lives of young people there.”

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