Scotland, the Isles: Single malt whisky through the producing distilleries: history, making, production and tasting notes
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Isle of Jura

Isle of Jura

Description of the whisky

The distillery

Isle of Jura
Isle of Jura Distillery
Craighouse, Isle of Jura
Argyll PA60 7XT
+44 1496 820 240
Owner: Whyte & Mackay Ltd
Creation date 1810

photos

The Isle of Jura has less than 300 inhabitants and is famous for its deers and its mountains, the Jura Paps. According to some sources, Isle of Jura could be the oldest scottish distillery.
The first traces of distillation are found as soon as the 16th century.
The distillery has been renamed several times. Originally it was called Caol'nan Eileanm Craighouse, Small Isles and Lagg.
The distillery has been build in 1810 and the first known owner is William Abercrombie who obtained a licence in 1831. From the next year the distillery was managed by Archibald Fletcher for about 20 years. It has been owned by several owners during the 19th century: J&A Gardner, Norman Buchananm J.K.&D. Orr and James Furgusson.
A decision of the landlord to collect taxes on all the buildings decided the Furgusson family to move all the material to Glasgow. This was not enough to discourage the landlord who continued to hound the Furgussons. But the Furgussons were clever people, and they knew the tax law was not applicable to buildings without a roof. So they went back to Jura and dismantled the distillery roofs...
After having been closed for about 40 years between 1914 and 1958, the distillery has been completely rebuild with the financial aid of the Scottish & Newcastle Breweries.
The distillery has been build by the well known architect Delmé Evans who also built amongst others, the distillery of Glenallachie and Jura. Evans died on 6 october 2003, aged 83.
The number of stills doubled in 1978.
In the past, the malt produced by the distillery was much more peaty, on the model of those of the neighbour Isle of Islay.
The Scottish & Newcastle Breweries left the distillery in 1985 to Invergordon Distillers who became part of White & Mackay. This last company became the Kyndal Spirits in 2001.
From 2003 it is one of the key distilleries of Whyte and Mackay Ltd, formally Kyndal Spirits Ltd. Kyndal Spirits Lyd changed its name in Whyte and Mackay Ltd in 2003.

The whisky

A propos des notes de dégustation Your own tasting notes

List of the bottles

Description of the distillery

Isle of Jura: Official bottlings
 

Isle-of-Jura

10 years
Age
 10 years
Alcohol percentage
 43,0 %
Bottler
 Official
=25 euros=25 euros
links & average quote
 74/100
 
 The colour is old gold. The nose, full and elegant is rather typical with vegetable hints like cut hay, onion and even rubber. It also reveals some nice touches of flowers and candies.
The palate is rich and smooth and confirms the nose fragrances and becomes oilyer after 10 seconds.
The finish is marked by vanilla, fruit and sugar, and is sweet-bitter.

(La Maison du Whisky)

 A pleasant malt smell, but rather flat precedes a surprise less taste. A good plain malt without this taste explosion which characterizes the best malts. The finish of average length is slightly sugared. A good whisky. A very good quality-price ratio. For this last reason, I heartily recommand it.
74/100
A second tasting confirmed the first one. A rather interesting bottle, even if this is not an absolute must.
74/100
A relatively fruity nose leaving a lolly on a flower background impression. In the palate, a kind of complexity, but the tastes remain in the fruit/flower register, without exaggerated contrasts, but without any failure neither. A nice finish, still of the same kind (fruit/flower), with some remote woody touches.
79/100
First impression is some hints of yeast and malted notes, a touch of smoke and then soapy hints. This nose does not announce a very great whisky. Let's hope things will get better in the palate.
In the mouth, there is first some malty taste, not specially complex and even some hinder from alcohol. Then a pleasant development on fruity notes. The whole remaining rather discrete.
A long and fresh finish, fruity.
Certainly not an essential whisky.
70/100

Comment by
Henrik Johansson

Appearance: Young sauternes, pale straw in light. Like fresh almond oil.
Nose: Salty and birch-like. Slight peat smoke. Mutton fat and mustard. With water it becomes a bit tar-like, grass fire, scented, ethyl alcohol. Like a perfect blend of a rocky sea islet and a burned down old forest.
Flavour: Old cigar fimp, a little fatty but not very rich, flame treated cane lump, dry mustard.
Development: Silkier nose with a delicate bouquet. The saltiness was quickest to vanish.
Comments: A tad unsatisfying. Not very rich, a bit bland and boring. But still a smooth dram that sinks easily.

 62/100

Comment by
Johannes Sauer

App.: Medium golden, brasslike
N.: This is one really strange nose: Grappa, yoghurt, vegetables, sour cream and honey blend together in a really satisfying mixture. Apples and dried fruits like a bowl of bircher-muesli in the morning. Wine and malty notes follow up. Also hints of rubber and leather can be detected. A very strange and individual nose, for sure a matter of taste, but for me very likeable.
P.: A rather smooth approach after this expressive nose. Honey and dried friuts with nuts and liquorice. A smooth bitterness like orange marmalade or green tea together with buttered shortbread. Very intense and balanced. This a little sour impression of the nose seems to be forgotten.
F.: Medium long but firm, leaving soft traces of caramel on the tongue. Conc.: This! is my everyday-dram. Gentle but very impressive.

 84/100
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Isle-of-Jura

Superstition
Age
 No age statement
Alcohol percentage
 45,0 %
Bottler
 Official
Particularity
 (Blending of peated and old malt)
=25 euros=25 euros=25 euros=25 euros
links & average quote
 Forum 84/100
 
 Superstition is the result of a marriage of two whiskies. The first one is characterized by its peaty taste, in the traditional style of Islay, and the other by it's delicate mildness.
The dark colour recalls the Mahogany wood, with gold glints.
The sweet smell due to the long stay in american oak casks mixes itself with some phenol, honey and marzipan hints.
The very complex taste reveals spices, pine and peat fragrances.
 What a strange malt. Superstition is really wonderful. The memory I had about Jura malts was a good ordinary whisky. But this bottle denies this, The mix of malt, honey and peat is really astonishing. An unforgettable finish (very long). An unqualified success. This bottle can reconcile any whisky drinker with the products of the isle of Jura (if anybody could have had a negative impression about them...)
84/100
During the second tasting, a strange but very pleasant and complex smell where fresh notes of honey are mixed with some discrete peaty notes. A very great complexity also characterizes the palate, combining some malt background with peat hints, in a spicy whole. A long finish completes the scope. For a special experience, this superstition is a complete success.
84/100
The nose is very pleasant and a bit disconcerting. A dominant smell which could be wood, or malt mixed to a slight touch of spiced citrus fruit on a discrete peaty background. In the palate, the spices are quite present, but the taste remains mellow, and the background peat is still there. The finish is lingering and pleasant and returns on the malt or wood already present in the first nosing.
84/100
A nose with undergrowth memories, musty wood hints, peat. No smoke, at least not straight away perceptible. A prune smell also, but rather discrete. In the palate, a kind of complexity, but also a kind of unbalance, together with some watery impression. Peaty notes seem to be superposed over other ones, smoother and with less character. Some furtive acidity. Not a fruity one, citrus fruit, but something which seems to evoluate in a strange register of a mix of peat and vinegar, without much character. Good thing it is really furtive.... The finish is paradoxically marked by alcohol, as alcohol just was missed in the mouth.... It is however long and pleasant, with nice woody notes
79/100
 

Comment by
Johannes Sauer

C.: Golden straw
N.: A very complex but firm and round nose: Honey meets apple juice, fresh fruits with cereals (Bircher Muesli), a wonderfully mixed combination of fruity and spicy aromes. There is dried figs and dates, too. Behind all this beauty there is a soft and discreet smoky note, very easy and not at all overpowering.
T.: w/o water: The peat is far more influencial, a smooth bitterness steps in, cocoa and dark chocolate appear on the map. w water: Now the fruity and cereal notes are stronger, combined with hefty whiffs of smoke a really great experience.
F.: There are fruits and brown sugar, vavishing, but bitter dark cocoa aromes are staying in the mouth for a long time - This is a very expressive, complex and enjayable dram, a marriage of the regular fruity combined with a stronger peated one. Since the regular one is one of my all time favorites, I am longing for tasting the peated expression. (I found right now a bottle 5 y.o. and the bottle is just waiting to be opened....)

88/100

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Isle of Jura: independent bottlings
 

Isle-of-Jura

Un-chillfiltered collection 1988
Collection
 Un-chillfiltered Collection
Age
 14 years
Alcohol percentage
 46,0 %
Bottler
 Signatory
=25 euros=25 euros=25 euros
links & average quote
 85/100
 
The colour is pale yellow with greenish glints. This version needs to be ventilated (by swirling the whisky in the glass) to discover all the vegetal (green malt) and the floral notes, as well as the light presence of peat and iodine. The palate is full, rich and oily and is perfectly balanced between the sugared and the salted fragrances, and recall the nosing;
The finish develops pleasantly on the smooth (milky) character of malted barley.
The whole has a nice structure and develops remarkably in the time.

(La Maison du Whisky)

This version of the only Jura distillery is simply marvelous. A very pleasant nose announces great things in the mouth. The palate is  experiences an unusual explosion of fragrances, gently dominated by iodine and peat. A wonderful rather long finish . A great moment of happiness.
88/100
The nose is rather fresh and marked by floral smells with some iodine hints. A festival of fragrances in the palate, from malt to cut grass, through very fine slightly acid touches. An exceptional finish, reviewing all the aromas detected by the nose and the tongue. A very special bottle.
84/100
The nose is frankly perfumed, between ripe fruit and cut grass. In the mouth, a great complexity, between citrus fruits, cut grass and malt on the background. An amazing mix of flavours. A very nice finish.
84/100
The nose is clearly marked by spices, with nice fruity notes and a touch of peat. Cut grass appear after a while. Very nice nose, great complexity.
The first mouth is bitter but develops quickly on slightly acid notes before turning back to the original bitterness, where some clear spice tastes (pepper) have been added. Very nice mouth, deliciously complex with very pleasant contrasts between unripe walnut and pepper.
The finish is warm and relatively long, with hints of malt mixed to woody touches. Nice whisky.
84/100
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Isle-of-Jura

Gordon & MacPhail 1995 for Netherlands
Collection
 Reserve
Age
 14 years
Alcohol percentage
 57,8 %
Bottler
 Gordon & MacPhail
Cask
 refill bourbon
Cask number
single cask 3199
Dates
 Distil: 27/11/1995 Bottling: 03/09/2010
Bottle
 211 btls
Particularity
 Non chillfiltered cask strength
=25 euros=25 euros=25 euros
links & average quote
 78/100
Isle of Jura gm reserve
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Ile of Jura: not in collection

Isle-of-Jura

Legacy
Age
 10 years
Alcohol percentage
 40 %
Bottler
 Official
links & average quote
 76/100
Isle of Jura Legacy
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Isle-of-Jura

Very Cloudy
Age
 9 years
Alcohol percentage
 40 %
Bottler
 Signatory
links & average quote
 72/100
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Isle-of-Jura

16 years
Age
 16 years
Alcohol percentage
 40 %
Bottler
 Official
=25 euros=25 euros
links & average quote
 79/100
Isle of Jura 16

Comment by
Johannes Sauer

Colour: Deep amber, mahogany (coloured, as they say “adjusted” if there was something to adjust....).
Nose: Honey, combined with dried fruits: apricots and apples. Also there is ginger beer and fresh peaches. Very discreet smoke and blue suede shoes.
Taste: Very balanced, full and rich, meaty like a roasted pork leg. Also whale nuts, lime peel, roasted almonds and ripe exotic fruits (mango). Softly burnt caramel and coffee with sweetened condensed milk.
Finish: Medium long, somewhat short for a 16 yo but nicely mesmerizing between soft spices and warm milk.
Conc.: A nice and tasty dram but somehow perhaps my expectation might have been too high.... What I am missing is this dearly loved typical Jura note of musty old fruits mixed with cold burnt embers and sour cream... But maybe the next tasting will come to totally different results.

Tasting date: 15/09/2010
Price in Germany: 39,00 Euro -1 Liter bottle

 79/100

 

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Isle-of-Jura

5 years, heavily peated
Collection
 Special Edition
Age
 5 years
Alcohol percentage
 60,6 %
Bottler
 Official
Cask number
single cask 19
Dates
 Distil: 18-1-1999 Bottling: 20-8-2004
Bottle
 234 of
Particularity
 cask strength
=25 euros=25 euros=25 euros=25 euros
links & average quote
 85/100
Isle of Jura 5 yo

Comment by
Johannes Sauer

Colour: Bright straw, light greenish glints .
Nose: This is one great, strange and very, very expressive one: There are very heavy earthy notes combined with wet cigarette ash and musty mushrooms and morels. Light impessions of vomit and sulphur. Then again more and more forest notes like wet wood and moss. With water added there's wet rubber and much iodine.
Taste: Typical peat bomb, without water in the beginning nearly undrinkable but after a few moments comfortable and warm. With 1/3 of water added (app. 40%), there are nearly the same impessions mentioned in the nose but leave out vomit and sulphur. This makes it very well drinkable, expressive and pleasureful, reminding the rough landscape (Pops) of the isle of Jura.
Finish: Long, long, long (G. Harrison): Bitterroot, wood and peatsmoke embracing the tongue for long pleasant moments. Perfect after dinner companion to your after dinner smoke.
Conc.: After a strange and surprising introduction this is one of the most exiting drams I ever experienced. Like the Isle of Jura this dram will not have many friends, but, alas, I am one. Wish this bottle would never empty...
Date: 16. February 2011
Price in Germany: ca 69 Euro (bought 2007 at Jack Wiebers in Kreuzberg)

 85/100
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Isle-of-Jura

Heavily peated edition 40ppm
Age
 8 years
Alcohol percentage
 58 %
Bottler
 Official
Dates
 Distil: 1999 Bottling: 2007/2008
Particularity
 Non chillfiltered cask strength
=25 euros=25 euros=25 euros=25 euros
links & average quote
 87/100
Jura heavily peated

Comment by
Johannes Sauer

Colour: Bright brown. (colour?)
Nose: In the beginning very strange but fascinating: Strong cheese (roquefort) smelly mushrooms (old morels) even vomit. But this impression passes quickly and there is nothing but good plain peatsmoke.
Taste: W/o water: Very strong and overwhelming, bitterroot, tar and old fishernets. But there’s also a subtle and fruity sweetness in the back. With water added (40%) there is the strange cheese and morel note part back, but very pleasant combined with fine spices and a nifty pinch of sea salt. Images of the forest near the sea, just like my Scotland holidays few weeks ago near Loch Linnhe ...
Finish: Long and fat, very chewy. Peatsmoke and seaweed.
Date: 11 August 2011
Price in Germany: ca 65 Euro (3 years ago)

87/100
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The Isles

Campbeltown map

The Scottish coast is surrounded by isles where whisky is produced, specially on the West coast (Mull, Skye, Arran and Jura) and on the North (Orkney)
The most important island from a whisky point of view is Islay, but this one is considered as a production area on its own.

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Click on the map for a list of the distilleries of the area, on the title for further information about the Isles area, and if you want to make an "alphabetical journey" through the area, please click on one of the pagode roofs, according to the direction you want to follow