Tastes

Nose: An interesting nose of intense sherry, leather, old oak, cherries and cedar wood. There's also an orange aroma in the background, both orange juice and orange zest. Palate: Lots of sherry, both sweet and dry, on the arrival together with dried fruits. It's a well defined and assured palate and the development brings out shortbread, caramel, raisins, walnuts, bitter dark chocolate, espresso and a little vanilla. Finsih: Surprisingly short. Dry sherry and dark bittersweet chocolate, and a mild gingery spice in the aftertaste. Very nice neat but it can take water with dignity and a dash marries everything together wonderfully, bringing out more dark chocolate and malty notes balanced by increased softness to the sherry. For some reason it always makes me crave a mild cigar. The only fault is that it seems to suffer adverse oxidization effects. Once my bottle was down to about half way a bitter walnut and leather character started to become slightly too prominent. It's a cut above the average but not an amazing whisky, however it's certainly worth a try by anyone who enjoys sherry matured or finished whisky. "Above Average" : 81/100 (3 stars)

Nose: Malty with herbaceous and floral honey notes, like Tasmanian leatherwood honey. Citrus hints and even a little briny character. There is also a delightfully rich aroma of top quality oak casks. In fact, that's the nose in essence - quality floral honey and quality oak. Yummy! Palate: Smooth and sweet, but not sickly sweet, with light honey and cereal coming to the fore later. A very friendly buttery chocolate and cream quality. Finish: Medium. Chocolate, malt, oatcakes and a little mild spice. A delicious hidden gem. When first opened the sweet palate makes this almost dangerously drinkable, but with some oxidization the initial floral honey sweetness veers towards a more subtle and elegant spicy sweetness, which is most pleasant. It would be just another floral, fruity whisky were it not for the full, meaty character that is underpinning everything. Not a hint of peat, but a delicate background whiff of barrel-char and some masterful cask maturation. "Very Good" : 85/100 (4 stars)

Nose: Salt, malt and honey. The briny character becomes more apparent as you focus on it, giving the nose an overall zesty nature. There are leathery and grassy aromas as well. Palate: Nutty, salty and a touch spicy in the arrival. Cereal and a light sweetness that starts to turn bitter as it develops. The palate also increases in intensity as it develops but it gains an overly briny character that intrudes too much for my liking. Finish: Medium/Long: After peaking, the palate starts a slow slide out and fades away with bitter walnuts and brine. Not particularly complex or interesting, in fact rather 2-dimensional. The brine aspect is very prominent and seems to become more so over time. It's acceptable but I wouldn't recommend it or buy it again. Jura has always been a problem for me as they have consistency issues. I don't mind variation between batches (in fact I welcome it) but the variation needs to be centered around a defined character. Jura seems to produce wildly differing batches of the same expression, and there is even more variation between expressions - it's like there are a dozen "house styles" of new-make, and none is particularly enjoyable. "Adequate" : 73/100 (2.25 stars)