Jura 12 Year

Nose: Sandalwood, cigar-box cedar wood, blackberry jam, pineapple, floral tones and hints of peat smoke. Palate: Sweet arrival with berries, clotted cream, honey and malted milk powder. The development is slow and not very deep with little emerging to add interest other than a fleeting hint of smoke and some sweet cocoa. The texture is good, slightly creamy and silky. Water brings little to the palate other than dilution so take this very approachable whisky neat. Finish: Medium/short. Honey and milk chocolate in the aftertaste. Not a complex profile but a pleasant one. Jura is not a distillery I follow as their expressions can be inconsistent, however recently they do seem to have picked up their game. The nose on this is intriguingly fragrant for a Jura, almost as though there was a mizunara cask in the vatting … no, surely not. Together with some low-key smoke it makes an interesting combination. The palate has a nice balance between salt and sweet flavours and there is a definite sweet sherry cask influence. I enjoyed this one, and just to swim against the popular current I thought it was better than Jura 10. I’m not sure I’d buy a bottle of this but I’d buy a bar pour or accept a free dram anytime. Tasted from a distillery sample. “Good” : 83/100 (3.5 stars)

Easy going - not getting much of the peat. Lingering sweetness on the finish.