Isle of Jura from a once in a lifetime sherry cask
It is said that long ago, Jura started a gigantic reracking program for their whisky maturing in poor wood quality casks, and pouring it all into better wood over the course of a decade. The numbers seem to support this decision, as Jura nowadays sells like hotcakes. If anything, Jura has a very singular style, which is good when you want to stand out in a crowd. For today’s tasting, to celebrate Jura Day that is part of Feis Ile 2026, we have found a sample from a sherry cask that was filled in 1989. Now maybe this was not the worst cask, as it was bottled all on its own by a legendary name in the industry!
Isle of Jura 15 years old, vintage 1989, bottled at 57,5 % abv
First things first: This single cask bottling carries the signature of distillery manager Michael Heads, probably put there just before he moved to Islay to begin his tenure as Ardbeg manager. Cask # 9876 produced no less than 850 bottles, and even though there is no indication of what the cask carried before, we can guess it was sherry, considering the colour. Distilled on 22 March 1989 and bottled on 11 October 2004 as a Special Limited Edition.
Upon Sipping: A nose that could easily be mistaken for an Edradour! Lots of mushrooms and sherried delight, with hints of rose petals. Some delicate red fruits as only a brilliant sherry cask can produce. This must have been a top quality one. Some Old Bottle Effect, that might well be the funky juice made at Jura. Some metallic notes, for instance. Taking a sip, the alcohol is sadly quite invasive, really unsettling and burning the tongue. We need water. Taste is good though, when you have swallowed that is, with an abundance of chocolate but always that Edradour funkiness. No soap, luckily! It seems to swim very well, the nose does not really change from adding a good dash of water. The taste has improved as well, and the alcohol burn has been laid to rest. Hints of raisins and red apple, mixed with brine and broth. In a way, extremely classic for the not so sexy distilleries in those difficult 1980s, like Tobermory and Jura itself. Now it is something truly singular and anecdotal to drink, this style just barely exists anymore, not even from current day Jura releases.
Word to the Wise: Jura produced a rather uncommercial spirit in those days, and it was put in an unusually brilliant sherry cask. A cask that could elevate any whisky into the low to mid 90s scores. For poor Jura, we have to take away a few points, where the funkiness always borders on something weird. As it stands, this was still an incredible drinking experience. A swan song from Micky Heads before moving on to Islay?
Score: 85 points.