Isle of Jura 10 Year old

Grows with time...

Reviewed by
Connosr member:

Toastbongo

Date:

10th Jan 2012

Reviewer rating:

About this score:

Nose: 17
Taste: 19
Finish: 19
Balance: 19

The average score for this whisky is 73.

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Tasting Notes by Toastbongo

Jura 10. I bought it at a steal (£17) and so I wasn't too worried about how it would turn out. My first tasting led me to believe I had nothing to write about on my hands. If I had been a member here, I'd probably have given it a 60. It was floral, light(ish) but harsh and tinny. That was almost exactly 2 years ago.

Now, however, it looks like the game is changing. I stuck some Jura in a decanter (it's a nice colour for a decanter and, as I said above, I'm not worried about giving it away) and left some in the bottle. I'm reviewing the stuff left in the bottle (which is now almost entirely empty)

Nose: Hint of salt, heather, alcohol and something which I think might be spiced pear. The slightest smell of cellar (in agood way!) Fairly light nose, but not unpleasant. Shall we say 17/25?

Palate: Peppery-sweet and slightly citrussy. Having had bad experiences with the newly-opened bottle, this one has quite a pleasant mouth-feel and rushes round quite cheerfully. On a second taste there's a teasing little hint of honey on the tip of my tongue and a bit more heather. There may perhaps be a lick of salt and a pinch of smoke in there. I think I'll give it 19 for a solid effort.

Finish: Very pleasant actually. I'm not normally a huge fan of spiciness but this is really quite enjoyable. It moves from spiciness quite quickly to a much softer taste, with the phantom of honey hanging around. It's that phantom of honey that encourages another sip, so it clearly does its job in encouraging more drinking! There's a nice lick of pepper to keep the taste on the tongue and it has a solid character to it. It's very smooth now that it's mellowed a little and very pleasant. Another 19, perhaps?

Well this most certainly is not the whisky I once disliked! Perhaps my palate has developed, but it's certainly a lot more pleasant than I remember over various tastings over the last 2 years. It's nicely balanced and that elusive dash of honey has kept me coming back for more as I write.

I'm really quite pleased with how this has turned out! A solid (but not earth-shattering) 74 as its final score.

Whisky details

Distillery/Brand:

Isle of Jura

Bottling:

Isle of Jura 10 Year old

Region:

Island

ABV:

40%

Colour:

Young Sauternes

Isle of Jura 10 Year old Grows with time... Reviewed on 2012-01-10T21:44:00 scoring 74/100 by Toastbongo

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Comments

Victor wrote:

Me too. I have posted elsewhere on connosr that I considered my brother-in-law's bottle of Jura 10 to be rough and unattractive sampled over and again, until...just at 2 years of the bottle open it mellowed out and I very much enjoyed it.

10 January 2012 22:07

DaveWorthington wrote:

I had a similar experience with my bottle of Jura too, although not over two years. I wasn't immediately impressed when I open it, although my daughter loved it. I bought mine last December, and it sat on the shelf most of the year and rarely got touched. However in October I thought I'd give it a second chance, and really loved it. The initial oilyness I experienced had disappeared and was quite sad to see the end of it. I have a bottle of Superstition to sample soon and hope it takes off where the Jura 10 left me.

10 January 2012 22:18

mattberg wrote:

this is a great little whisky (along with Old Pulteney) that is easily available and well affordable.... have tasted independent bottlings at three times the price and they were not as good.... a mysterious hobby this is..

10 January 2012 23:44

Toastbongo wrote:

It's interesting how much of an effect it had! Since reading @victor 's review of an HP12 left open I've been re-visiting my older whiskies and re-tasting them to see what the difference is. @DaveWorthington - I considered buying Superstition, but then I remembered how little I liked Jura 10 (until now) so I avoided it! I also have a fairly large number of unopened bottles and I really need to start actually drinking my whisky rather than hoarding it!

Another whisky that I've found is a great 'ager' is Glenfiddich Caoran Reserve. The smokiness becomes more pronounced and the whole whisky becomes more complex after being left for a month or two.

@mattberg - I've been meaning to get some Old Pulteney for a while but just haven't got round to it. It looks like the type of thing that will appeal, so hopefully I'll review it before too long!

11 January 2012 10:26