Jura Distillery Cask
2007, 14yo, Cask 1892 | 57.2% ABV
Hello Jura, my old friend
I used to enjoy Jura. It was one of my favourite distilleries when I first got serious about whisky 15 years ago following an innocuous Rabbie Burns night where I was introduced to scotch via a bottle of Famous Grouse. I’d only stayed in my local Canadian whisky sandbox until this point, then I began exploring Scottish exports with more frequency and intent. I followed a common path, starting with the typical sherried malts of Aberlour and Balvenie, dipping my toes into the then-affordable Lagavulin 16, the odd Old Pulteney, and then Jura.
In those days Jura brought something different to the table. Their Origin, Elixir, Prophecy, and Superstition releases had some extra zip to them, offering more experiences than the Balvenie Doublewood that was in my glass at the time. I have a memory of my senses distinctly detecting chilli flake notes, an ah-ha moment that has stuck with me ever since. It was one of the first flavour notes I instantly recognised from the official notes and was instrumental in shifting my views on whisky. I don’t know which expression it was since the labels, tasting notes, or other official descriptors have changed, but I remember it being on the label somewhere along with two or three other notes. It would be nice to find a bottle of this mystery Jura for nostalgia’s sake.
Jura fell out of my favour when local prices skyrocketed while others remained more affordable. That’s been flipped today and Jura’s releases are now on the more affordable end of the spectrum. Coincident with these local price spikes was a noticeable drop in quality. It was a double death knell to Jura in my mind. Fueling the fire was that Jura has become somewhat of an inside joke, a source of snickering and sniggering among whisky anoraks, for some time now.
And you know what? I joined in on this ribbing, lamenting the changes in recent years. I can’t actually remember the last time I bought an official bottle, nor which one it was. Is my ire still deserved?
Now bear with me for a second as I go on a bit of a tangent. My wife and I have a trip to Scotland as a bucket list item. We’re going to wait a few years for our kids, currently five and two, to be a bit older so they can remember the trip and also have enough attention span to sit in a plane for the 20+ hour flight without driving us crazy. Whether we go now or in a few years, it’s not going to be cheap. So we might as well make it count and make as many memories as we can while we are at it.
Once we get into the land of single malt, we’ve got different priorities and that’s fair. There’s the natural topography of Scotland, I’m not complaining, I’m on the backdoor of the Canadian Rockies. The ancient history and architecture, Canada is a young un’ in comparison, and various other to-do items. For my part, I’ve been curating a list of distilleries I’d like to tour in the two weeks we’d be there since it would likely be another 15-20 years before a return trek might be made, if at all. After all, there’s a whole big world to travel and our personal wish lists shouldn’t completely revolve around whisky.
I’ve all but committed to an all-out nerdy tour of Tomatin, one of my favourite distilleries. Campbeltown would be nice but would be a bit of a detour as we’d likely be heading towards the Highlands. Lochlea is a maybe given its proximity to major centres such as Glasgow.
Ardnamurchan? Dougie has sold me on it however it’s quite out of the way. If Ardnamurchan is out of the picture, then dragging the whole family to Islay is very much out of the question. And if the comparatively populous Islay is out of the question, then sightseeing deer on the Isle of Jura is definitely not going to happen.
So just based on purely logistical and fiscal challenges, a trip to Jura will be off my plate. It’s such a small and remote island that it takes a concerted effort to visit. For me, it’s just not feasible. So with this realisation in mind I’ve been keeping an eye on whisky auctions, looking for distillery exclusive casks to satisfy my nostalgia and urge to visit the distillery. That’s where this little fella comes in.
Review
Jura Distillery Cask, 14 yo, Cask 1892, distilled 12.09.07, 46% ABV
£60 at auction, plus fees. (CAD$170 paid)
No mention of cask type, maturation breakdown, chill filtering, or natural colour. I presume this is straight from the cask and is non-chill filtered and natural colour.
Nose
Dark toffee, blackberry jam, dark Manuka honey mixed with a healthy pinch of molasses. Smell of burning sugar to create a crème brûlée top on a dessert. Milk chocolate and cinnamon sticks. Melted brown sugar and treacle. Gooey butter tarts filled with golden raisins. I get more of the darker notes at the bottom of my glass and distinct lighter notes at the top rim. It’s dark, syrupy, brooding, and enticing.
A lovely burnt orange burst pops up with a dash of water.
Palate
It’s intense and weighty, balancing sweet and bitter (not sour) notes. The mouthfeel and weight on my palate is very similar to the official releases of Highland Park’s cask strength releases, albeit significantly less fiery.
Fresh-picked blackberries and blueberries. If there ever was a perfect example of nutty bitterness, this is it. Dried prunes and fresh dates. Dark molasses, brown sugar, and 90% dark chocolate. There is a fudge-like note similar to a dark chocolate brownie made with espresso powder with a just barely cooked centre. Dash of cinnamon sprinkled across all notes. Vanilla and orange oil appear at the trailing end of the experience.
The nutty bitterness is oily and pervasive, refusing to leave my teeth and gums. Any other whiskies that follow this pour are going to be tainted. The finish is long with nuttiness, but is a concoction of a quality blackberry jam. Prunes, brown sugar and vanilla slowly fades away. This is one of the longest and stickiest finishes I’ve had in a long time.
The Dregs
What a cask. Based on my experiences, I’m leaning heavily towards an oloroso sherry cask. The initial smell had me leaning towards a red wine cask but after tasting it, this must be a quality sherry cask with a full-term maturation, or at least a several year finish maturation period.
If you’re wary of my claims on the quality of this whisky, don’t be. I poured myself a dram of this mystery casked Jura on the back of cracking a G&M 22 yo Glen Scotia, and this Jura stood toe-to-toe. It’s a quality dram and I’m very happy to have paid the not-so-insignificant auction, shipping, currency conversion and import fees to move this wee bottle more than 6400 km to my facehole. The quality of this Jura is bordering on earning a spot on my A-list shelf, a tough spot to earn these days.
I feel comforted and somewhat vindicated knowing Jura can truly produce some good juice. It’s a shame what their current bottlings have become, although admittedly it’s been more than a decade since my last core range purchase. With this auction purchase, I also feel I don’t need to make the trek, with family in tow, to the isolated island to have some sense of nostalgia.
This bottle provides that instant teleportation back in time to my memories of enjoying Jura and to my then fantasised journey to the island, satisfying any inner desires of the current moment.
If I can pass on any advice it would be: don’t forever write-off certain distilleries or whiskies because of bad experiences or changes in quality. Perhaps you’ve evolved and matured, as anyone would expect with time enjoying whisky, or you might not be connecting with their official releases and may need to try alternatives. These may be distillery-exclusive casks or different expressions from well-reputed independent bottlers that may present the whisky in a better light.
Have you ever circled back to something and found yourself enjoying it? Let me know.
Score: 7/10
Tried this? Share your thoughts in the comments below. BB