A wee selection of Jura whiskies of the highest quality


October 8, 2024

A wee selection of Jura whiskies of the highest quality

(VisitScotland / John Duncan)

Remember Isle of Jura is #1 in the UK.

Jura 16 yo ‘Perspective No.01’ (46.5%, OB, bourbon + oloroso, 2024)

A rather conceptual new release, with ‘labels that are never exactly the same’. Well, at least that’s what I believe I’ve understood. The finishing in oloroso casks lasted four years, so it’s more of a secondary maturation, really. Colour: light gold. Nose: very fruity, easy-going, and rather seductive, with a light muscat-like note, acacia honey, mirabelles, and apricots, followed by a touch of camphor, chlorophyll, and cane sugar. You won’t find any of that slightly ‘dirty’ Jura DNA here, but that’s not a complaint. Mouth: really very good, soft but lively, still easy-going, malty, honeyed, and full of very ripe yellow fruits, then comes the expected walnut, as you’d imagine after four years in an oloroso cask. Finish: medium length, sweet, jammy (plums), with a touch of walnut cake in the aftertaste, and a faint mustardy and smoky edge. That would be the distillate reminding us of where it comes from. Comments: a richer, sweeter Jura than many others. No denying it’s very, very well made.
SGP:641 - 86 points.

Jura 1989/2023 (47%, S Spirits Shop Selection, hogshead, cask #1113, 259 bottles)

With a stunning dragon-turtle gracing the label, one wonders if it’s as representative of the liquid inside, which has had nearly 35 years to develop? Worth noting, Jura also made peated whisky in 1989… In fact, the official ‘Rare Vintage’ 1989/2019 was absolutely outstanding (WF 91). Colour: white wine. Nose: classic Jura. Flint, mustard, white flowers, leather, bark, green walnuts, crushed slate, a hint of rubber, fresh vinyl records, bitter oranges… Magnificent! Mouth: oh yes, quintessential Jura. Much drier compared to the new 16-year-old. Devil’s sauce, salt, tobacco, mustard and walnuts, soot, paraffin, wrinkled old apples, bitter oranges, even a slightly fatty oyster... Finish: medium length, with notes of tobacco, leather, walnuts, orange zest, and bitter chocolate. One can only bow in respect. Comments: a magnificent Jura. Wait, 1989 was really thirty-five years ago?
SGP:462 - 90 points.

Isle of Jura 30 yo 1994/2024 (46%, Whisky Sponge, Decadent Drinks, refill hogshead, 203 bottles)

The Sponge already had a superb 1991+1994 back in 2021 (WF 91), so expectations are rather high for this one. Colour: white wine. Nose: a greasier take, more in line with a fine white wine, with notes of rhubarb, white flowers, metal polish, basalt, paraffin, and grapefruit. In short, it’s an awesomely classic Jura nose, leaning slightly towards the old-school style. Mouth: peppery, earthy, with coal dust, paraffin, that childhood memory of eating modelling clay, a touch of plaster, honeycomb, grapefruit, and a hint of banana. Everything’s just spot on. Finish: very long, with a fantastic bitterness, orange peel, green pepper, tobacco, and aged mead… Comments: I feel like these incredible old Juras fly a bit under the radar, yet they’re absolutely magnificent, offering a deep and complex aromatic experience. I see from some old notes that I’ve compared them to St. Magdalene before. Yes, that’s exactly it (self-congratulation, there’s nothing worse, S.)
SGP:462 - 91 points.

Alright, let's finish with some younger ones…

Jura 16 yo 2006/2023 (54.2%, Whisky Age, cask #8001643, barrel, 214 bottles)

This one should be rather good too. Colour: white wine. Nose: it’s a bit like the Sponge, but younger and a tad less complex, yet with these lovely notes of aubergine and artichoke, banana skin, porridge, soot, a touch of mustard again, grapefruit, and a few drops of bière de garde. Absolutely nothing to do with the new official 16-year-old, opposite style. With water: a lovely abundance of wet chalk and porridge, with a bit of eucalyptus thrown in. It almost feels like a Trappist whisky – if such a thing were to exist. Mouth (neat): oily, with wax, green pepper, zesty notes, rubber, citrus, soot, and that slightly ‘dirty’ side of a ‘real’ Jura. With water: excellent, with some menthol emerging. Touches of old walnuts that have been left down in the cellar, right between the coal pile and the oil tank. Finish: long, on green apple, paraffin, green pepper, and fruit peelings. A hint of heather honey and a grain of salt in the aftertaste. Comments: a marvellous Jura, very ‘Jura’ indeed (no kidding, S.?).
SGP:562 - 89 points.

Even younger...

Isle of Jura 10 yo 2014/2024 (55.6%, Maltbarn, bourbon cask, 263 bottles)

From Maltbarn's latest series, with their always delightful contemporary neo-retro-futurist labels (what?). Colour: straw. Nose: the distillate shines through, with its fermentary character, alongside chalk, mustard, green apple, soot, paraffin, and leather… nothing to complain about! With water: similar, but now with more basalt and a distinct limestone quality, like wet limestone after a rain shower. Mouth (neat): very lively, bursting with lemon, almost like concentrated lemon juice mixed with a splash of seawater and clay. With water: pretty much the same, excellent, with that marvellous saline quality that once again reminds us of a cracking manzanilla. All we need now is a mountain of langostinos con ajo. Finish: long and seriously salty, with just a hint of garlic in the aftertaste. Comments: how lovely is this at only ten years!
SGP:462 - 88 points.

Like its cousin Fettercairn, Jura is consistently gaining points on WF at the moment… This also demonstrates, in both cases and once more, how independent bottlers can contribute to strengthening the image of a distillery, provided they are allowed to attribute their whiskies to said distillery.

Check the index of all Jura we've tasted so far