Isle of Jura 30 Year Single Malt Scotch Review
Some dear friends shared this bottle with me and I have to be honest that I'd never heard of it before. This single malt Scotch hails from the Isle of Jura which is, shockingly, an Island off of Scotland. I did a lot of research to discover that.
The large whale looking thing on the front of the bottle is actually the largest of eight Camas an Staca (standing stones) on the island. These stones were placed by the Diurach peoples over 3000 years ago. What does that have to do with the liquid? Nothing. But you learned something today. Isn't that neat? Another fun fact is this Scotch spent 27 years aging in American oak and finished three years in Sherry casks. YAY SHERRY I LOVE YOU!
So island Scotch tends to be a little more peaty (smokey) than say Highland or Speyside whiskies so I was expecting this to be like a swat team no-knock-warranting an unsuspecting family in Houston. It was however very nicely balanced with more smoke on the nose than in da mouf. In da nostrils I got, as I mentioned, some oakey smoke and citrus which was a nice contrast. In da mouf, it came across quite oily but not full on olive oil. It was more like a thinner sesasme oil which tapered off into warm cinnamon apples. The finish didn't last as long as I would have expected for a 30 year old but I have that problem too. Ba dum tss. I think this bottle appeals to peat and non-peat lovers.
This is not a widely known and available offering and I would definitely recommend trying it at a bar if you get the chance as it's something different but not sure you should spend the money on a full bottle.