Isle of Jura Single Malt
Encyclopedia
Isle of Jura Single Malt is a Scotch
whisky
distilled at the Isle of Jura Distillery located on the island of Jura
located off the West Coast of Scotland
. The island belongs to a group of islands collectively known as the Inner Hebrides
.
As legend has it, Laird Archibald Campbell awoke in the middle of the night to see the ghostly figure of an old woman hovering over his bed. She berated him over the lack of the golden liquid on the island. It was this apparition that persuaded him to reverse his punitive measure and erect a distillery at an old smugglers' cave in the hamlet of Craighouse
in 1810.
But the distillery fell into disrepair and it wasn't until the 1960s when, in a bid to entice new inhabitants to the island, two local estate owners Robin Fletcher and Tony Riley-Smith rebuilt the distillery, employing architect William Delme-Evans.
By 1963 their work was complete; they had introduced taller stills allowing the distillery to create an eclectic mix of malts, a feature that continues to help differentiate Jura from its island neighbours.
Jura's liquid story is highly unusual in that there is no discernible 'house style'. Within just the core range you could experience a spectrum of light and heavy, peated and unpeated. There's something for all palates.
Jura's location on The Gulf Stream
, with its exceptionally mild climate and gentle breezes, together with the local spring water, are significant factors contributing to Jura's smooth, varied and complex flavours.
Often the smallest of factors can affect the balance of flavours in whisky. Although much of a whisky's character is decided by the type of barrel it is aged in, the finest single malts quite literally offer a taste of their location, starting with the water that is used to the local weather and atmospheric conditions. During the ageing process, the whisky not only absorbs the flavours of the wood, but the island's atmosphere and sea breezes as they pass over the barrels.
symbol for birth, beginning and the forces of nature. This whisky holds a special place on the island. For many of the islanders, Origin is the water of life. A light and delicate spirit which has a lingering taste of warming gentle oak, notes of honey and caramel, soft liquorice and roasted coffee beans.
being a prime example. This ancient symbol dates back to the Egyptian times
and is long rumoured to bring good fortune, providing the whisky is poured in the correct manner, by holding the bottle with the Ankh cross in the centre of your palm.
This lightly peated malt is crafted from a selection of the finest aged Jura single malt whiskies. This mysterious spirit has a unique style and character, with tastes of spice, honey, pine and peat with a whisper of smoke.
This rich and full bodied spirit has flavours of dark chocolate combined with oranges and spices which leave a sweet toffee and honey finish.
Prophecy is a heavily peated malt, bottled in a traditional style without chill filtration to deliver an authentic taste of 1938. Flavours of peat smoke, fresh cinnamon and spicy sea spray with tarry bonfire notes give way to hints of soft liquorice and nutmeg.
The key dates in the Diurach calendar include the world famous whisky festival - Feis Ile. This runs throughout the last week in May each year across both Islay
and Jura. The Jura Music Festival takes place every year in September. Now in its 18th year, the festival runs for three days and is an established favourite for lovers of the traditional music scene. The annual Sports Day takes place on the Ardlussa Estate each July and the Jura Regatta is an annual favourite in the summer calendar.
words on describing how to reach Jura. So protective of its secrets, the island is as awkward to reach today as it was in 1946. The journey from London involves two flights, one boat and a great deal of patience. Glasgow
may be 300 miles closer but is, paradoxically, no quicker.
To reach Jura by car and boat (summer only) drive to Tayvallich
on the west coast of Scotland and take the Jura passenger ferry direct to Craighouse
on Jura.
For the rest of the year drive to Kennacraig on the west coats of Scotland and take the Calmac ferry to Port Askaig
on Islay. At the same port, board the Jura island ferry.
Both Willies are great ambassadors of the Jura single malt whisky and are held in the highest regard among their peers.
continues this fine tradition.
The lodge is available for private rental at certain times of the year at the cost of £2,500 per night for a minimum of three nights. Shooting, hunting, fishing, fell walking, lobster eating, sailing and whisky drinking can all be organised upon request.
Single malt Scotch
Single Malt Scotch is whisky made in Scotland using a pot still distillation process at a single distillery, with malted barley as the only grain ingredient...
whisky
Whisky
Whisky or whiskey is a type of distilled alcoholic beverage made from fermented grain mash. Different grains are used for different varieties, including barley, malted barley, rye, malted rye, wheat, and corn...
distilled at the Isle of Jura Distillery located on the island of Jura
Jura, Scotland
Jura is an island in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland, situated adjacent and to the north-east of Islay. Part of the island is designated as a National Scenic Area. Until the twentieth century Jura was dominated - and most of it was eventually owned - by the Campbell clan of Inveraray Castle on Loch...
located off the West Coast of Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
. The island belongs to a group of islands collectively known as the Inner Hebrides
Inner Hebrides
The Inner Hebrides is an archipelago off the west coast of Scotland, to the south east of the Outer Hebrides. Together these two island chains form the Hebrides, which enjoy a mild oceanic climate. There are 36 inhabited islands and a further 43 uninhabited Inner Hebrides with an area greater than...
.
History of the Distillery
Even though the distillery didn't open until 1810, the people of Jura were entitled to distil whisky for personal consumption, until a ban was introduced in 1781.As legend has it, Laird Archibald Campbell awoke in the middle of the night to see the ghostly figure of an old woman hovering over his bed. She berated him over the lack of the golden liquid on the island. It was this apparition that persuaded him to reverse his punitive measure and erect a distillery at an old smugglers' cave in the hamlet of Craighouse
Craighouse
Craighouse is the main settlement on the Scottish Inner Hebridean Isle of Jura. The village is situated on the sheltered east coast of Jura at the southern end of Small Isles Bay....
in 1810.
But the distillery fell into disrepair and it wasn't until the 1960s when, in a bid to entice new inhabitants to the island, two local estate owners Robin Fletcher and Tony Riley-Smith rebuilt the distillery, employing architect William Delme-Evans.
By 1963 their work was complete; they had introduced taller stills allowing the distillery to create an eclectic mix of malts, a feature that continues to help differentiate Jura from its island neighbours.
The Whisky
Jura's single malts have won numerous awards and are distinguished for their eclectic flavours.Jura's liquid story is highly unusual in that there is no discernible 'house style'. Within just the core range you could experience a spectrum of light and heavy, peated and unpeated. There's something for all palates.
Jura's location on The Gulf Stream
The Gulf Stream
The Gulf Stream is an 1899 oil painting by Winslow Homer. It shows a man in a small rudderless fishing boat struggling against the waves of the sea, and was the artist's last statement on a theme that had interested him for more than a decade...
, with its exceptionally mild climate and gentle breezes, together with the local spring water, are significant factors contributing to Jura's smooth, varied and complex flavours.
Often the smallest of factors can affect the balance of flavours in whisky. Although much of a whisky's character is decided by the type of barrel it is aged in, the finest single malts quite literally offer a taste of their location, starting with the water that is used to the local weather and atmospheric conditions. During the ageing process, the whisky not only absorbs the flavours of the wood, but the island's atmosphere and sea breezes as they pass over the barrels.
Origin
Origin is the ten year old that carries the traditional CelticCeltic nations
The Celtic nations are territories in North-West Europe in which that area's own Celtic languages and some cultural traits have survived.The term "nation" is used in its original sense to mean a people who share a common traditional identity and culture and are identified with a traditional...
symbol for birth, beginning and the forces of nature. This whisky holds a special place on the island. For many of the islanders, Origin is the water of life. A light and delicate spirit which has a lingering taste of warming gentle oak, notes of honey and caramel, soft liquorice and roasted coffee beans.
Superstition
There is a litany of strange and bewildering customs on Jura, the use of the AnkhAnkh
The ankh , also known as key of life, the key of the Nile or crux ansata, was the ancient Egyptian hieroglyphic character that read "eternal life", a triliteral sign for the consonants ʻ-n-ḫ...
being a prime example. This ancient symbol dates back to the Egyptian times
Ancient Egypt
Ancient Egypt was an ancient civilization of Northeastern Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now the modern country of Egypt. Egyptian civilization coalesced around 3150 BC with the political unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under the first pharaoh...
and is long rumoured to bring good fortune, providing the whisky is poured in the correct manner, by holding the bottle with the Ankh cross in the centre of your palm.
This lightly peated malt is crafted from a selection of the finest aged Jura single malt whiskies. This mysterious spirit has a unique style and character, with tastes of spice, honey, pine and peat with a whisper of smoke.
Diurachs' Own
Nurtured for sixteen long years, this is the whisky of choice for the people of Jura. It's a subtle malt - unassuming and understated. Qualities often attributed to the Diurachs themselves. Understandably, the islanders are drawn to it above all others, which is why the symbol of the Diurachs adorns each and every pack.This rich and full bodied spirit has flavours of dark chocolate combined with oranges and spices which leave a sweet toffee and honey finish.
Prophecy
In the early 1700s the Campbells of Jura evicted a wise old seer who prophesised that the last Campbell to leave the island would be one-eyed with his belongings carried in a cart drawn by a lone white horse. The prophecy was all but forgotten until one day in 1938, when Charles Campbell, blind in one eye from the Great War, fell on hard times and led his white horse to the old pier for the last time.Prophecy is a heavily peated malt, bottled in a traditional style without chill filtration to deliver an authentic taste of 1938. Flavours of peat smoke, fresh cinnamon and spicy sea spray with tarry bonfire notes give way to hints of soft liquorice and nutmeg.
The Community
While the red deer population rests at around 5,000, the number of people who make their living on this small, remote isle sits at less than 200. The inhabitants of Jura are known as Diurachs, which is their Gaelic name. Despite the Diurachs being in such modest numbers, they do have character in abundance, Proud of their land and their whisky, they will gladly bend the ear of any visitor willing to take the time to listen.The key dates in the Diurach calendar include the world famous whisky festival - Feis Ile. This runs throughout the last week in May each year across both Islay
Islay
-Prehistory:The earliest settlers on Islay were nomadic hunter-gatherers who arrived during the Mesolithic period after the retreat of the Pleistocene ice caps. In 1993 a flint arrowhead was found in a field near Bridgend dating from 10,800 BC, the earliest evidence of a human presence found so far...
and Jura. The Jura Music Festival takes place every year in September. Now in its 18th year, the festival runs for three days and is an established favourite for lovers of the traditional music scene. The annual Sports Day takes place on the Ardlussa Estate each July and the Jura Regatta is an annual favourite in the summer calendar.
The Diurach Programme
With such a small population on the island, the distillery is keen to extend honorary citizenship to fellow Jura whisky lovers around the world. The kindred spirits the distillery attracts will be offered a free dram for life, every month at the Jura pub - an incentive that has already led to a marked uptake in visitor numbers. There is a host of other benefits that come the way of an Honorary Diurach.The Island
The Isle of Jura is just seven miles wide and thirty miles long and it has only one road, one pub and one distillery. There are six estates on Jura: Ardfin, Inver, Jura Forest, Ruantallain, Tarbert and Ardlussa. Jura is famous for its rich culture of myths, legends and good fortune. The most celebrated tales concern The Prophecy, The Witch of Jura and the Corryvreckan.Getting to Jura
"Extremely unget-at-able" were George Orwell'sGeorge Orwell
Eric Arthur Blair , better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English author and journalist...
words on describing how to reach Jura. So protective of its secrets, the island is as awkward to reach today as it was in 1946. The journey from London involves two flights, one boat and a great deal of patience. Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
may be 300 miles closer but is, paradoxically, no quicker.
To reach Jura by car and boat (summer only) drive to Tayvallich
Tayvallich
Tayvallich, pronounced "Tay-vee-al-ich", is a small village in Knapdale, Argyll and Bute, Scotland. The village name has origins in gaelic: Taigh a' Bhealaich . The village is built around a sheltered harbour on Loch Sween. It has a primary school, small caravan park, pub and village store. The...
on the west coast of Scotland and take the Jura passenger ferry direct to Craighouse
Craighouse
Craighouse is the main settlement on the Scottish Inner Hebridean Isle of Jura. The village is situated on the sheltered east coast of Jura at the southern end of Small Isles Bay....
on Jura.
For the rest of the year drive to Kennacraig on the west coats of Scotland and take the Calmac ferry to Port Askaig
Port Askaig
Port Askaig is a port village on the east coast of the island of Islay, in Scotland.-Transport:Port Askaig serves as the main port of Islay, sharing passenger services to the Scottish mainland with Port Ellen...
on Islay. At the same port, board the Jura island ferry.
Jura's Brand Ambassadors
It was as a fresh-faced youngster in 1975 that Willie Tait began his life-long association with the island. His career has gone from Tunroom Man, Mash, Stillman Under Manager and Distillery Manager to the lofty position of Master Distiller and Global Brand Ambassador in 35 years. He was recently awarded a lifetime Achievement Award from the Malt Advocate magazine (USA) for his 37 years' service to the [Scotch Whisky industry]. Willie Cochrane started his career at the Jura distillery as a Mash/Still Operator wasy back in 1976. Soon after, he was promoted to the dual role of Brewer and Engineer - a position that married his love for the whisky with his engineering background. Then, after three glorious decades, Willie attained the role of Jura Distillery Manager.Both Willies are great ambassadors of the Jura single malt whisky and are held in the highest regard among their peers.
The Awards
The Jura Distillery has been blessed with many accolades over the years. The performance at last year’s International Wine and Spirit CompetitionInternational Wine and Spirit Competition
The International Wine & Spirit Competition is an annual wine competition founded in 1969 by the [German/British] oenologist Anton Massel.. Each year the competition receives entries from over 80 countries worldwide. The awards given by the competition are considered to be some of the highest...
continues this fine tradition.
The Jura Lodge
A home from home for all Diurachs, the lodge offers an eccentric display of colour, décor and stylistic touches.The lodge is available for private rental at certain times of the year at the cost of £2,500 per night for a minimum of three nights. Shooting, hunting, fishing, fell walking, lobster eating, sailing and whisky drinking can all be organised upon request.
See also
- WhiskyWhiskyWhisky or whiskey is a type of distilled alcoholic beverage made from fermented grain mash. Different grains are used for different varieties, including barley, malted barley, rye, malted rye, wheat, and corn...
- Scotch whiskyScotch whiskyScotch whisky is whisky made in Scotland.Scotch whisky is divided into five distinct categories: Single Malt Scotch Whisky, Single Grain Scotch Whisky, Blended Malt Scotch Whisky , Blended Grain Scotch Whisky, and Blended Scotch Whisky.All Scotch whisky must be aged in oak barrels for at least three...
- List of whisky brands
- List of distilleries in Scotland
- United Breweries Group