Jura Diurach's Own 16 Years Review

Country: Scotland

Region: Highlands - Islands - Jura

Brand: Jura Diurachs' Own

Type: Single Malt Whisky

Age: 16 Years

ABV: 40%

Date: 17/12/2012 - 08+21/01/2013 - 14/04/2017

Colour: Full Gold/Amber (Artificially coloured)

Nose: I am really puzzled. Do I actually smell Cooked Vegetables (Cabbage) and Cooked Potatoes with Curry Sausages or is there something wrong with my Nosing tonight! An overdose of E-150? Or were a large number of refill Casks used? Or simply a bottle with a defect. I don't believe the latter is the case as the Palate seems so be normal. I also don't think it's Sulphur as the Jura 16 is only finished for 2 years in Ex-Sherry Casks. In any case, I'm not getting much else at first! Luckily, I'm a patient guy and after half an hour or so these off-notes are subdued a bit and I get Caramel, Oak, Honey, Pine, Toffee, Herbs, Malt and hints of Leather, Apricot and Orange. Still, this is not quite sufficient for a 16 Year old Single Malt. It's an unpeated Jura of course and therefore has none of the characteristics of its (mostly) peated Islay neighbours.   

I repeated the Nosing a day later, having avoided to eat or smell anything that could influence the proceedings. But the Cabbage, Potatoes and Curry Sausage were still there albeit slightly more subdued. This could be one of those Malts that actually improve after having been opened. I will taste and nose this dram again in a month or so. (*I nosed it again on January 8 and January 21, 2013 but my opinion stands.). I opened yet another (miniature) bottle today on the 14th of April 2017 and again I got those Aromas but yet again in a more subtle way.

Taste: Light, Watery, Fairly Smooth, Sweet, Slightly Musty and Dry at the same time with Honey, Pepper, Salt, Oak, Vanilla, light Orange, Cloves, Toffee and Custard. Completely drinkable of course but nothing to get excited about.

Finish: Short with Pepper, Salt, Toffee (Werthers Original), Vanilla, Oak and hints of Tobacco and Milk Chocolate.

I added a few drops of Water and won't do that again. It just waters the dram down and the Finish becomes quite bitter with some Licorice appearing towards the end.

Rating: 81  

Nose: 19 - Taste: 21 - Finish: 20.5 - Overall: 20.5

General Remarks: The Isle of Jura is located off the West Coast of Scotland. If you're on Islay and the weather is clear you can look across the Sound of Islay, the straight that divides both isles and see the Paps of Jura, the three magnificent peaks that characterise Jura. There only live around 200 people on the island. In the Gaelic language they are called Diurachs, hence the name of this whisky that is said to be the whisky of choice of the inhabitants. At the Isle of Jura, there is only one road, one pub and one distillery that was founded in 1810. Lots of Jura Malt is used by the owners Whyte & MacKay in their range of Blends but lately Jura is more and more promoted as a Single Malt and with some success. The 16 Year is sold at around US$ 60 per bottle (April 2017). It matures for 14 Years in Ex-Bourbon casks before being finished for two years in Ex-Sherry (Amoroso) casks.

Drinking Experience Neat: Okay/Good.

Conclusion: This was a bit of a disappointment. Despite the nice packaging and slick bottle, the Jura 16 is not at all an exciting Single Malt in my opinion. At the most it's solid basis material for standard Blends. Even without considering the unpleasant off-notes, the Jura 16 just does not bring enough complexity and finesse to the table. I bought a full bottle of this at the duty free and I'm not too pleased with that. I'm sure the Diurachs should be able to find a better dram on their little island! Maybe in a year or two I will go to Jura myself to help them find it. Paps of Jura, here I come!

PS: I went to Jura in the meantime and visited the distillery on a very rainy day in May 2014. To be honest I didn't become a real fan of the Jura distillery and its Single Malts. 

Jan van den Ende                       December 2012 + January 2013 + April 2017