Tastes

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)