Jura 18yo 44% ABV

On Jura, our tiny island community finds time stretched by the changing seasons and tempered by the unique microclimate. Each passing year brings its own riches.

Matured for eighteen long years in American White Oak ex bourbon barrels, this whisky is then beautifully enriched by superior Premier Grand Cru Classé Bordeaux red wine barriques from the South of France. The result is an incredibly rich and fruity whisky, with flavours of cooked raspberries, warm spice, rich caramel and crème anglaise.

Jura Whisky

Appearance

We have a deeper gold this time, and again nice thick swirl line and several thick slow legs. #JuraWhisky

Nose

That’s a big nose for 44% ABV, and the foresty notes are here, aromatic wood, a dustiness with cereals and grains, sweet smoke, raisins, prunes and dates so far. #JuraWhisky

Rather elegant is what i’m thinking, it’s married nicely too, balsa wood again. #JuraWhisky

Palate

First off is a lovely mouthfeel, and along with the aromatic wood is honey and honeycomb, even chocolate coated , nutella, and a real red berry sweetness, strawberry laces, cherry jar syrup. #JuraWhisky

Cumin, root ginger, aniseed, cough candy, cinnamon buns, vanilla custard with red berry strudel. #JuraWhisky

Finish

Long side of medium, and once the spices have arrived they do linger well, and it’s reminding me of cognac, that dark sweetness is lovely. #JuraWhisky

My thoughts

I’d heard nothing but good things about this 18yo whisky, and even have a sample that was very kindly sent to me by a whisky friend, but hadn’t gotten around to opening it. Well i have to agree with the majority, i think it’s a lovely whisky too. Nose, palate, and finish offer up loads, it’s very nicely married and rounded also. The higher ABV is most welcome and definitely has an impact on this bottling, he says with a smile. Yes i’d definitely have a bottle in my whisky cupboard, and well done Jura Whisky for producing a great bottling in my opinion.

A big thank you goes out to Jura Whisky and Steve/The Whisky Wire for the opportunity to take part in the tasting that this whisky was a part of, and for the use of his whisky images, they can be followed on Twitter using the buttons below.