A bitter orange
The Distillery
http://www.jurainfo.com/isle-of-jura-images-wallpaper/isle-of-jura-distillery.html
The owners of the Jura distillery like to refer to the early Isle of Jura distillery as their origin and even proudly put the year 1810 on their bottles.
The old distillery however went silent in 1901, the current distillery is an almost entirely new construction from 1963. I must admit that this vexes me a bit, can you really still claim you're the same distillery after 60 years of silence and decay? I'll admit it's harmless but maybe they should put the year 1963 on their label.
Why I picked it back up
I have to admit that I'm not really that much of a Jura fan. I appreciate the superstition, I like the Diurachs, I’m good friends with the Prophecy, but the 10yo?My soon-to-be, brother in law, a Jack Daniels fan, asked me to introduce him to the world of scotch whisky. One weekend bored out of my skull, I agreed to join him and my sister in their search for the ideal wedding location. Luckily for me, we passed by my favorite whisky shop, where I bought an absolutely stunning bottle of Lochside. And, per his request, I selected a few miniatures: HP 12, Old Pulteney 12, Bladnoch, Bunnahabhain 10, Glendronach Revival, Jura 10 and when we returned back home, I gave him a 20cl bottle of Lagavulin and an unopened Ardbeg 10yo miniature to try out at home.
Guess what? He adored the Jura and went back to the store to buy himself a full bottle, leaving me flabbergasted. How could he choose the Jura over all these great malts? Did I miss something?
Which brings us back to tonight: in front of me, a dram of Jura Origin 10yo.
The Malt
http://www.thewhiskyexchange.com/P-12141.aspx
Taste: dried oranges, again notes of cereal, orange blossoms, honey, oak wood shavings, ginger and a whiff of iodine.
Finish: long, dry and bitter, with fading notes of orange and ginger.
Conclusion
Has the Jura 10, like the superstition improved over the years? Last bottle I tried was a pre-2008? bottle as it still had the "Isle of Jura" logo on it instead of just "Jura".
This not the malt that I recall from my previous tastings, but a significant improved version. Sometimes it pays off to give a whisky a second chance.
