Isle of Jura Whisky – A Journey Through Time & Taste

Time to get to know Islay's closest neighbour in the Inner Hebrides, Jura boasts a huge deer population, numbering in the thousands, and a mere two hundred inhabitants.

Despite its small population, illegal whisky was being brewed on the island of Jura as early as the17th century, but the first licensed whisky distillery was established in 1810 in Craighouse, owned by the island's owner, Archibald Campbell.

The distillery is known by many names, from Small Isles, to Craighouse, Caol an Eilean and finally Jura.

Just like the name, the distillery changed owners: at first it belonged to Archibald Campbell, then in the 19th century to the group: James Ferguson & Sons, then in the early 1960s Robin Fletcher and Tony Ridley-Smith took up production again until 1985 Invergordon Distillers took over the Isle of Jura and Glenallachie distilleries.

In 1974 Isle of Jura debuted on the market as a single malt whisky. In 1978 the number of stills was doubled (from two to four).

In 1991, the 10-year-old Isle of Jura won the gold medal at the International Wine and Spirit Competition.

In 2002, Jura Superstition debuted – the first lightly peated whisky from the local distillery.

For a fully peated version we had to wait until 2009, when Jura Prophecy appeared on the market.

Jura also occasionally releases limited versions of its stock, which often makes quite an impression on the whisky scene, such as the release of two versions of 21-year-old whisky:

Jura Time 21yo finally ended up in barrels in which peated Scotch whisky had previously matured. It was bottled as a single malt with an ABV of 47.2%. According to the manufacturer, it offers notes of honey, chocolate, citrus and Turkish delight. The cost of purchasing a single bottle will be around £150.

In the case of Jura Tide 21yo, the final stage of maturation took place in barrels made of fresh American oak (so-called virgin oak), and its ABV at the time of bottling was 46.7%. The retail price of this whisky is not yet known.

Often, like other distilleries, Jura experimented with barrels and temporarily included in the offer bottles such as:

• Jura pale ale Cask
• Jura red wine Cask
• Jura rum CaskJura French oak

The current offer is:

• Jura 10yo
• Jura yourney
• Jura seven wood
• Jura 12
• Jura 18

The oldest officially released Jura editions

The 44-year-old whisky was matured in an American bourbon barrel before being transferred to a tawny port pipe for six years of maturation. The barrel came from Symington Estates in the Douro Valley in northern Portugal.

Jura 45 Years Single Cask is an original bottling from the renowned Jura Distillery in Scotland. This limited edition bottle is part of the Single Cask series and has been distilled from a single cask that was filled in October 1973. After 45 long years of maturation, the whisky was bottled in October 2018 at a cask strength of 42%.