DuckDrams

Jura is among my most-reviewed distilleries with a kind of love-hate relationship. At its worst it’s a horribly dry, vegetal and unbalanced train wreck of a single malt. But at its best, with some age and sensitivity of an independent bottler, it can be uniquely intriguing and delicious. Let’s see where the following two sit on that spectrum.

Jura • 18yo • 44%

Scotch Single Malt • Red wine finish • €70 • WB🔗

Tasting notes from a 3cl sample bottle

Nosing

Sweet, nutty, earthy, woodsy. With plum juice, walnuts, juniper wood, praline.

Deliciousness
Fun factor

Sipping

Spicy and sweet. Candied orange peel, walnuts, just a tad metallic.

Deliciousness
Fun factor

Comments

Not a standout, but it’s got some character and I quite enjoyed it, despite the spicy and dry profile.

Jura • “Special Limited Edition” • 10yo • 56.2%

Scotch Single Malt • Bourbon barrel • unavailable • WB🔗

Tasting notes from a 2cl sample bottle

Nosing

Mineral, petrichor, hint of iodine, dunnage warehouse, dry wood, vanilla, and grape fruit.

Deliciousness
Fun factor

Sipping

Malty, muscular, rather salty and briny, with salted caramel, stone fruits, and a hint of funky, vegetal peat.

Deliciousness
Fun factor

Comments

This is enjoyable, without tickling my fancy too hysterically.

Tasty Juras, at least now that I’m quite accustomed to the dry, woody style. My biggest gripe is that both samples had quite a lot of mini-bottle off-notes. With the Jura 10 that’s a sample bottle I got filled at the Limburg Whisky Fair in April, that’s not too surprising; but that the sample from whic.de has even more of the defect is real worrisome since I just spent €130 on 17 samples. I guess you don’t know how long any give sample has say, and they seem to have not quite filled it to the top of the neck.