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Episode 18: Jura Origin, Superstition, and Prophecy

Recently I have seen a bit of chatter about Jura and most of it has been negative. I know in the past I have tried a few of their different bottlings and enjoyed them. That prompted me to pull out a couple of unopened bottles and give them a more serious taste review. I looked at three of the four core offerings from this small distillery from the island of Jura.

Jura Origin is a ten-year-old Scotch aged only in ex-bourbon casks. It is chill filtered and coloured, but released at a pleasant 43% ABV. The nose is sweet and full of orchard young orchard fruits. I pick up green apple and pear mostly. The first taste is pronounced with alcohol, but as that fades, I find Jura lightly creamy or coating and the sweetness of vanilla and honey begins to shine through. The finish is short, except for a lingering bitterness. I enjoy the light sweetness here, but it is a bit of work to get past the alcohol and bitter notes.

Jura Superstition is a NAS Scotch also aged only in ex-bourbon casks. It too is chill filtered and coloured and appears darker in the glass and bottle. For this expression they have used between 20 and 30% peated barley and the resulting spirit is lightly peated and smoky. I enjoy the nose of this expression. The smoke is gentle and intriguing. Coming back to nose it a few times will reveal some of the same sweet fruits. Tasting this brings out a bit more peat on the palate with some spice. As that subsides a bit of honey or vanilla comes out and a bit of wood and chocolate. There is still the alcohol burn, but it feels balanced with some of these flavours. The finish is initially smoky again, but fades quickly and leaves some of that same bitter wood around.

Jura Prophecy is also a NAS Scotch. Here they have changed up their aging a bit by using ex-bourbon American Oak, Limosine Oak, and Sherry casks. I could not find out the relative time amounts, but it does not come out heavily Sherried, so likely it has spent most of its time in ex-bourbon. They have also bumped up the alcohol to 46% abv and have avoided chill filtering. The nose is full and bold with smoke coming up first followed by that peat essence and only a little bit of sweetness. The fruit in the nose is darker, maybe more like cooked fruits or plum. The palate is alive with spice, some chocolate, and a strong peat taste. As the spice moves through there is vanilla and caramel that provides some balance. The finish if finally, a bit longer, with lingering wood notes and it dries the mouth and leaves you with a warm hug. There is a bit of the lingering bitter notes, but they are tamed by the memories of smoke and dark fruit. I definitely prefer this out of the three.

Jura is a tough one to recommend, so I generally don’t. Too many people seem to find this Scotch unpleasant. I actually like the lineup, and if I pour Superstition blind, people have enjoyed the mild smoke and peat, who do not normally enjoy peated Scotch. A tip, pour it a bit later in the night and they will taste the highlights and not the alcohol.

Jura Origin 10 year rating: ✮✮✮✰✰
Jura Superstition NAS rating:✮✮✮✬✰
Jura Prophecy NAS rating:✮✮✮✬✰
Link to my video review: https://youtu.be/KZHjKcO6nOo

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