Jura 10 Year

This tasting for Jura 10 Year is another “impressions” review as it was a public tasting while at a work event. I’ve seen a bit of mistrust for this distillery due to inconsistent releases. What better way to provide an advantage to this questionable dram than by trying it for free and preceding it with Johnnie Walker Black? This event had an odd spirits selection to be sure.... Jura 10 consists of a mixture of peated and unpeated whiskies which are matured in bourbon barrels and finished in ex-oloroso sherry butts. It’s colored, chill-filtered, and bottled at 40% ABV. On the nose, there’s lightly medicinal peat and smoke. Sweet fruits (berry-like), heather, and coffee grounds. The palate amplifies these and adds a bit of spice, sea breeze, leather, cacao notes, and velvety tannins. It has decent mouthfeel, but in no way compares to the richness or intensity of many of its Islay neighbors. “Decent” in this case means, “wow, that’s not as weak as I was expecting for 40% ABV” - it’d be nice to see this higher. Finish is sweet, smokey, and a carries a bit of spice. I feel like this dram has more in common (character and flavor-wise) with some drams from the Highlands than nearby Islay. I think a bottle of this used to be quite expensive/overpriced, on the order of $50-$60. It looks like that has come down a bit, and can now be found for around $40-$45 (who knows how long that will last as the tariff effect trickles in). That puts it on par with Laphroaig 10, which is delicious and exquisite but also challenging. If you seek a less complex hybrid between Islay and the Highlands and want to try something new, perhaps seek this out if you can find it around the $40 mark and have tempered expectations. 3.25 ~ Average

Smooth start and finish with flavor felt on the back of the tongue

Tastes a bit chemically to me