Jura. The small island next to Islay and home of Superstition Whisky.
Jura. I took the ferry from mainland Islay over to Jura, just to see this one distillery. Only about 200 people live full time on this island. This visit was similar to Lagavulin. I was so excited to be on the Island of Jura I wanted to focus on the tastings. I actually had never tried Jura until this visit, but I have seen the Superstition bottling at a few bars. Jura definitely has a very unique bottle shape, design and labeling system. It’s pretty easy to spot them. This year they will produce about 2.2 million liters of new make spirit and are currently owned by Whyte & Mackay from Invergordon. Although, changes may be in the works since Whyte & Mackay is now owned by a Filipino company called Emperador. This sale was somewhat forced to happen since the previous owner was United Spirits and Diageo is in the process of taking them over. This would clearly put Diageo into an even more powerful position of the Scotch industry. See the article below..
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-scotland-business-27340535
They currently run production 24/7 and are running 28 mashes per week. The mash tun is stainless steel along with their six washbacks. The fermentation period lasts about 54 hours. There are five warehouses on site. All of their age statement whisky will spend at least 10 years in American bourbon and then finishing casks are really big for them. You will see this consistently throughout most of the Whyte & Mackay distilleries. Here a few of the drams I tried..
JURA Prophecy - Non Age Statement
Holy’s Tasting Note..
Nose: Peat, tart pear, vanilla.
Palate: Sweeter fruit, sweet tarts, coconut, creamy vanilla, some peat and sea spray a bit on the finish.
I really liked this one for a NAS!
JURA Diurach’s Own 16 Year Single Malt
Holly’s Tasting Note..
Nose: Chocolate, trail mix (the chocolate cranberry one from target), cinnamon, apple and chocolate covered cherries.
Palate: Apple skin, dry finish, dry almonds and perfume like.
This was too dry on the palate for me.
JURA 21 Year Old Single Malt
Holly’s Tasting Note..
Nose: Strawberries, weak coffee, hot chocolate.
Palate: Ripe berries, spicey, oaky finish.
This one was confusing to me. I expected richer flavors, but was a little dry and bitter to me.
JURA Tastival 2016 - Non Age Statement
Holly’s Tasting Note..
Nose: Peanut brittle, butter cookie, butterscotch, tangerine, stick of butter.
Palate: Sugar cookie with sprinkles, tart apple, some salt on the finish.
I really liked this one!
JURA Tura’s Mara - Non Age Statement
Holly’s Tasting Note..
Nose: Green apple, apple cinnamon.
Palate: Cinnamon, chai spice and pretty spicy.
As you can see I preferred the Non Age Statements over the older expressions! The whisky was interesting and I definitely hope to see their non age statement to continue growing. If you get a chance to go to the Island of Jura, I would highly recommend it. The views are beautiful and untouched scenery!