Isle of Jura Single Malt Whisky

Strangely enough, the red deer outnumber the inhabitants. By a lot. There are approximately 25 deer for every one of the 200 or so inhabitants of the Isle of Jura. (For the math challenged, that’s 5,000 deer.) In fact it is believed that the word Jura is Old Norse for deer.

Oh and there are its topographical landmarks, the Paps of Jura (three steep sided mountains). But for us single malt lovers, its whisky that makes Jura famous…that and its proximity to Islay.

While Islay has its eight distilleries, Jura has just one. The Diurachs, as the inhabitants are known also share with Islay and its inhabitants, the Ūlich, the Feis Ile Festival, during the last week in May, which encompasses an orgy of music and drink on both isles with many special bottlings available exclusively at the distilleries during this period.

Willie Tait, Jura Whisky’s brand ambassador and former master distiller and Willie Cochrane, distillery manager, have for over 35 years shepherded the brand into what it is today, although the distillery has been in existence for just over 200 years.

Both Jura and Dalmore, owned by Whyte & Mackay, are also under the hand or should I say nose of Richard Patterson, master blender, also known as “the nose”.

Their core bottlings are Origin 10 year old (Silver Winner at the 2010 IWSC Awards), Superstition NAS (No Age Statement) a lightly peated version (Gold Winner at the 2009 SFWSC Awards), Diurach’s Own a 16-yr old (Gold Best in Class at the 2010 IWSC Awards) and Prophecy NAS, non chill filtered,

a heavily peated dram (Gold Best in Class at the 2010 IWSC Awards).

An Aside on the ABV (Alcohol by Volume) of Whisky Bottlings

Whyte & Mackay Bottlings: Origin and Diurach’s Own 16, are unfortunately bottled at 40% ABV as is the Dalmore 15-yr, old. What difference does that make, you may ask? Well for a whisky to remain clear, as it sits on the shelf at 40% ABV the bottler has to use chill-filtration, which means the fatty acids in the whisky, where much of the flavor lies, have been stripped out so they don’t fall out of solution and become cloudy while on the shelf, or when you add water or ice.

Chill filtration is a product manipulation that compromises taste. The Dalmore 15, (see tasting notes) for instance, which has a very nice flavor neat, completely falls apart if any water is added. Why would the producers do such a thing? When they water-down the whisky to 40% they get more bottles out of each cask. Well that is one way to stretch your supplies and make more money, but does it show any respect for the consumers that look to that product line for quality? Don’t think so. But a big “bravo” for bottling Prophecy at 46% with non-chill filtering.

Hopefully that is a new trend for this distillery.

Back to the Whisky

Let’s do a comparison of distillery bottlings, Jura 10 40% ABV, Superstition 43%ABV, Diurach’s Own 16, 40% ABV and Prophecy, 46% ABV, non-chill filtered as well as a Chieftain’s Isle of Jura 1996, 14-yr. old, 46% ABV, cask #5223, single cask, non-chill filtered, no coloring added.

First off the most striking thing here is the color difference (see below). If there were no coloring added to the distillery bottlings, one would expect the Chieftain’s 14 year old to be somewhere, color-wise, between the 10 and the 16, but it is a very pale light gold, much lighter than the 10. All the distillery bottlings are a deep orange-y gold with the 10 being only slightly lighter.

Lesson #2 in Distillery product manipulation: Unless they say so on their labels, most distillery bottlings have caramel color added to make their whisky look more mature.

Here I’m not singling out Whyte & McKay, this is a VERY prevalent industry practice and is allowed by the Scotch Whisky Association, which specifies the rules under which Scotch is made, aged, bottled and labeled.

One argument for coloring is that deeper colors make things more appealing and that we desire what we eat and drink

with our eyes as well as our sense of smell and taste.

Another argument is that it is impossible, from batch to batch, to keep the color of whisky consistent, so this is a way to make sure your favorite always looks the same in the glass and on the shelf.

If you are past the novice stage of whisky tasting, you know color only tells a story about how the whisky was matured IF the whisky was not artificially colored.

As you judge a whisky you should also realize that single malts from distilleries may have whisky of several different ages which were matured in different casks and mixed, to say, make their 10 year old that might have older whisky and whisky aged in sherry as well as bourbon casks. So that complicates using the color to judge its appeal and maturity.

In Jura 10’s case they age in 95% ex bourbon barrels with 5% in ex sherry, so I really don’t think one would naturally get the color seen at left.

Chieftain’s Isle of Jura 1996, 14-yr. old, Rating: 80-85

Very light gold in color. Very fragrant, active nose - strawberry, vanilla, brown sugar. On the palate, caramel, pecan banana, slight bit of white pepper, malty. With a drop of water a very powerful caramel-strawberry-banana nose is released. An impression of banana pudding.

Jura 10, Rating: 80-85

Medium gold in color, with a nose that is malty, sweet, with a slight whiff of acetone. The medium bodied dram is slightly chocolaty, malty, ginger spicy and has a slight berry taste at the last. With water there is coconut on the nose and a creamier, caramel flavor.

Jura Superstition NAS, (13% peated Jura mixed with casks of 13-21 yrs old,) Rating: 80-85

Light peat on the nose along with iodine and hay. Light bodied with a palate of peat smoke, caramel, white pepper, banana and vanilla and a short finish. With water, the nose does not seem to open up, but there is a slightly spicier palate, that does not improve the dram overall.

Jura 16, Rating: 85-90

A floral nose of sherry, vanilla, dark raisin, apple, orange and marshmallow. On the palate it is caramel, milk chocolate, raisin, coconut and green apples in a very nice balance with a long spicy finish. With water the caramel on the nose intensifies. This is a fairly good dram, but I really think it could benefit its good points to be slightly more intense with some increased ABV and no chill filtering.

Jura Prophecy, Rating: 85-90

Medium peaty nose, very active with dark fruit and iodine. On the palate spicy, peaty, apple, pecan and caramel with a medium spicy finish. With water a smokier nose and some salt and a slightly creamier flavor. This not a heavy weight peat monster like some of the Islay whiskies, but is the best of the bunch.

To give another perspective, Murray’s Whiskey Bible rates the Jura 10 an 80.5, commenting that it is flat. Superstition he gives a 75 and does not compare it favorably to the earlier version that was bottled at 45% ABV.

The Jura 16 he gives a 78.5, and does not have kind words for either. The Prophecy he likes and rates at 90.5.

It has been many years since I’ve tasted through the Jura range and I have to say generally it has gotten more interesting, but I would really like to see all their bottlings with more guts to them, which to me means, non-chill filtration and higher ABV.