
May 20, 2020

Little duos, today some of the best of Jura

I believe Jura doesn’t deserve all the flak they’re getting from within the chatteratti’s grottos these days, same with Dalmore or Macallan by the way. Sure unbridled branding and attempts at ueber-premiumisation never command much goodwill and are often seen as unjustified arrogance, but that’s got nothing to do with the distillates! So let’s try to avoid the poor(ish) NAS-oaked-flavoured juices, and rather check one or two indies today…

Jura 21 yo 1998/2020 (55.7%, Chapter 7, Monologue, bourbon hogshead, cask #2144, 284 bottles)

I find it a little funny to call a single cask (or a single malt?) a ‘monologue’, but there, we’ll listen anyway… Colour: white wine. Nose: an utterly typical blend of chalk, soot, sour cream, lime and grass juices, and linseed oil. Also lettuce and asparagus, perhaps, while the chalkiness never stops growing in your glass. Do they have a lot of chalky soil on Jura? I mean, it’s not Champagne, is it?... Perhaps some whiffs of wisteria too, I suppose they do have wisteria on Jura. With water: fern and a little mint, touch of dill, coriander… Mouth (neat): oh good! More lemon and chalk, Sancerre, sauvignon blanc, grass juice, touch of cardboard (no problem), soot and ashes, ‘sucking broken branches’, eating raw vegetables… snap peas, broccolis… With water: it’s always perfect when the fruits do take over, in this case bitter citrus. Remains austere, but it’s a rather beautiful austerity. Finish: rather long and very good, and very ‘Jura’. Sure this kind or rather reckless distillate does need at least 20 years. More chalk, greenness, and a saltier lemonness in the aftertaste. Comments: exactly what I was expecting, a very perfect, un-botoxed, well-aged Isle of Jura that should make the island proud. This, is Jura whisky.
SGP:372 - 90 points.

Perhaps a similar age, but distilled ten years earlier? We still had this in the little ‘J’ box…

Isle of Jura 22 yo 1988/2010 (46%, Mo Or Collection, bourbon hogshead, cask #756, 352 bottles)

These 1988s were great, but will this one beat the perfect Chapter 7? Colour: gold. Nose: bang, these ones had those medicinal scents that were so perfect. As if someone had bandaged a grapefruit and poured tincture of iodine and various embrocations all over the end result. And here comes a second layer, with roasted peanuts and the most medicinal of all honeys. Wouldn’t that be manuka? Brilliant nose. Mouth: incredible sour-and-sweet arrival (mango chutney, whortleberry sauce), with quite a lot of peat at that, it’s just that it tends to become a little gritty and cardboardy towards the middle. No big deal, this is Jura after all, but boy what an arrival! Finish: rather long, smoky and bitter (samphire, capers), with more cardboard in the aftertaste. Comments: I had first thought it would be a fruity glory, but it lost one or three pints as it was becoming just a little acrid and bitter. But great Jura nonetheless.
SGP:372 - 88 points.

See, there are some stunning Juras out there! And let’s not forget that last year’s official 1989/2019 ‘Rare Vintage’ was simply out of this world (91 in my book). Just b****y expensive.

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