Today we pick up a particular sample from our cabinet: it’s the 16 yo OB from Isle of Jura distillery, located on the small island just in front of Caol Ila. It’s the mysterious “cousin” distillery of the famous Islay’s ones, distinguished by a rather unique style: except for the peaty Prophecy, the house style is marked by a light hint of smoke and by the use of super-active casks that usually give the whisky an extra-sweetness. The color of this teenager is a nice copper.
N: Jura is never obvious: it’s wrapped by the coastal breeze, with a crisp whiff of brine and seawater, but even some Worchester sauce. After that you get lost in a funny game of infused bitter herbs, licorice sticks, carob and tobacco. In the background some sweet notes are recognizable: overripe orange, honey, brown sugar. Really particular. Coffee, too.
P: the coastal side is less evident, here. But it’s still decently intense, with the whole palate moving towards the bitter side: licorce sticks again, herbal liqueur, rhubarb, gentian and coffee. Later it becomes citrusy. Burnt sugar.
P: middle to long and quite lively. Very clear and grassy.
Everytime we taste Jura’s malts we’re impressed by their distinctiveness, so everytime we promise to try some other expressions, to fully explore the distillery production. This 16 yo in our opinion is the best in the OB range, because it mixes with balance the typical, coastal, briny and salty notes with a never trivial sweetness. 86/100, very good indeed.
Recommended soundtrack: Dave Holland Quintet – Homecoming.
