The islanders, however, thought very little of the ban and many of the estimated 250 pot stills remained active after the imposition, and considering the island’s extreme unget-at-able-ness, it was going to take a very determined excise man to actually enforce the act. The Duriachs (as inhabitants of Jura are known) enjoyed a long period of unhindered home distillation before this was banned in the Excise Act of the 1781. Whisky making on Jura has a long history. Standing stones, ruins and manmade caves dot the landscape serving as a reminder that the island has been inhabited for a very long time. Carbon dating puts some of the earliest settlements on Jura at around 8000bc. It’s believed that Jura takes it’s name from the old viking word “Dhiura” meaning red deer, however, the Vikings weren’t the first people to inhabit Jura. There’s only one road, one pub, one shop and one distillery. The Isle of Jura lies off the west coast of Scotland and is eleven kilometers wide by 48 kilometers long, making it a bit smaller than Cairns. This is how George Orwell famously described his attempts to reach the Isle of Jura and amazingly, the island is as awkward to reach today as it was in 1946. While the rest of the range will be on shelves across Australia this year, you won’t see the 18 Year Old until 2020, so we’d recommend doubling up on this beauty to keep you going until then. Matured in American White Oak and treated to a decadent finish in Premier Grand Cru Classé Bordeaux barrels, adding notes of toffee, berries and bitter chocolate to the rich island malt, topped off with just a touch of refined smoke. Well the wait is over because this February we bring you the pinnacle of the new Signature Series, Jura 18 Year Old. We can’t wait for people to try and it and see for themselves.’ Combining two styles of whisky is a fairly unorthodox approach, but one that we know is right for Jura. The brainchild of Jura’s distillery manager Graham Logan, it marks a hugely significant step for Jura: ‘A new house style of whisky is not for the faint hearted but it tells you where we are now and how committed we are to Jura, the community and our whiskies for the long term. In 2018, in the biggest overhaul of liquid and packaging in the distillery’s history, Jura took a bold move to overhaul their entire core range and replace it with all new expressions tied together by a signature house style. Jura uses predominantly American White Oak ex-bourbon barrels, along with very high quality ex-sherry and ex-red wine casks to make one of the most enticingly balanced malt whiskies on the market today. For just 4 weeks a year Jura makes a rich, oily, heavily peated spirit that when blended with their unpeated spirit gives body and depth and just the faintest hint of smoke. Some of the tallest in all of Scotland they tower at 7.7m producing a beautifully light, sweet spirit. The first of these unique elements are Jura’s stills. This same spirit goes into their whisky (though not literally) and combines with three key elements to create something truly unique – a whisky that’s sweet yet subtly smoky, balanced and accessible. After all, there are plenty of easier places to make whisky. In the case of the Diurachs, there’s a belief anything is possible, and they keep proving it. Isolation and adversity can work together to create a drive unlike any other. Going by the moniker “The Nose”, Patterson is best known for his work with Dalmore Distillery and creating Whyte & Mackay’s award-winning range of blends, and has been instrumental in turning Jura’s single malts into the sought-after delights they are today. It was a significant moment for Jura when the distillery was taken over by Whyte & Mackay because it brought production under the umbrella of Richard Patterson, third-generation master distiller and whisky industry legend.
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