Welcome to day 3. Not sure why we put this whisky here usually we space it out a bit more but here we are. Today’s offering is the second dram form the BCL premium releases. don’t know about you but I love Jura they just don’t seam to get enough recognition. That said we also don’t add them to our calendar much either so i guess we don’t help the cause. All that said we did find a bit of peat in this one and it didn’t totally ruin it for us so enough of this little blurb and lets tuck in we will be curious to hear what you think.
Whisky
Country: Scotland
Age: NAS
ABV: 40%
Story
The Isle of Jura’s core official range is made up of four bottlings of Jura: Origin 10 year old, Duirach’s Own 16 year old, Superstition, and Prophecy. All of the bottlings vary in flavor and age: Prophecy is young and quite heavily peated, while Duriach’s Own is not and has a mature character. The Superstition contains a mixture of unpeated as well as peated malts. The 10 years old is the well known standard and was the only available malt in former times. The distillery also has several other bottlings. The Turas-Mara, Elixier 12 years old, 21 years old. Very famous was a Jura 1984 Vintage bottling, which celebrated the the novel Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell which he wrote on the island from 1946 to 1949. Finally there had been an Archive Bottlings Range, which features three ‘Boutique Barrels‘ bottlings from 1993, 1995 and 1999.
In something of a novelty situation, the official bottling seriously outnumbers independent bottlings from the Isle of Jura. There have been a few performed by such bottlers as Douglas Laing and Hunter Laing, which vary in ages and vintages, but the official collection provides a far thorough selection.
History
Jura is a very special place – it’s probably the only island in the world where Whisky barrels outnumber the human population. The Isle of Jura distillery sits in the island’s only town, Craighead. The distillery has had a two-phase history, much like many other distilleries that have undergone numerous openings and closings. Charles Mackinlay & Company built the modern-day distillery in 1960, with the first distilling taking place in 1963. However, there was a distillery at the site that dramatically pre-dates the modern facility.
In 1831, William Abercrombie obtained the first license for the Isle of Jura Distillery. Production launched soon afterwards and was met with great success. In 1853, the distillery changed hands, with Norman Buchanan from Glasgow taking over the lease. Just over a decade later, in 1867, Buchanan filed for bankruptcy, and J. & K. Orr snatched the distillery’s up for grabs ownership. In 1876 the license was transferred again, this time to James Ferguson and Sons. In 1901, the Ferguson family reportedly fell into a conflict with the then Laird of Jura, Laird Colin Campbell, which resulted in them closing the distillery and dismantling and selling the equipment.
Following this, Isle of Jura lay silent for many years, until the equipment was reawakened in 1960, when Charles Mackinlay & Company embarked on a reconstruction and extension of the distillery. Just as the distillery reconstruction and expansion launched, the newly formed Scottish & Newcastle Breweries obtained Charles Mackinlay & Company, but decided to go ahead with the redevelopment of the distillery anyway. In 1962, Scottish & Newcastle Breweries formed Mackinlay-McPherson for the operation of Isle of Jura. In 1963, for the first time in over six decades, the first distilling occurred at the Isle of Jura distillery.
In 1978, the number of stills was doubled from two to four, and then in 1985 Invergordon distillers, through a corporate merger, acquired the distillery. The distillery swapped hands again in 1993, when the long time competitor Whyte & Mackay took over Invergordon distillers. Whyte & Mackay maintained direct control of the distillery until 2007, when United Spirits from India bought Whyte & Mackay. Since it’s re-opening, the distillery has continued to go from strength to strength, continuing to expand its official bottlings and opening an award-winning visitor’s centre.
Tasting Notes
Nose: Citrus fruits, caramel latte, sultanas, a hint of banana, Barbecue flavour crisps. Currants
Taste: Coffee, maple syrup, apple pie, spicy mulled wine
Finish: Vanilla, Cinnamon, cakey spice,
Purchase Links
BC Liquor