Introduction
An iconic drink from Scotland. No, not Jura 18 Year Old… but Irn Bru. That’s what whisky reminded me of as I poured it into my tasting glass. Jura is known for adding caramel E150 to their products, but that added colour isn’t an issue in some whiskies. For what could be a popular and iconic whisky, consistency is key, and colouring might make sense. But that’s quite an old view in the whisky world… most people (most, not all) appreciate honesty, and that includes the colour of the whisky they drink. Between Jura and other brands like Dalmore who use colouring, there are some tasty drams to be had…
That being said, it’s hard to ignore the bright orange liquid that was staring me in the face as I looked at this whisky. It may affect my perception of smell and flavour, who knows!
Finished in Red Wine casks, I'm expecting a fruity dram in my head before I even begin...
On the Nose
On the Palate
Conclusion
In my head, I imagine lots of 18 years olds being given this whisky as an interesting birthday gift and venturing into the world of whisky with this as their first-ever impression (not counting the Jack and Coke from their teenage years, of course), and that annoys me. It’s really not the best example of an 18 year old scotch I could think of. I’ve read elsewhere that Jura suffers from a legacy of poor cask choices and poor spirit cutting practices, but I can’t comment on that as I don’t know enough about it. I do know although I wouldn’t turn another dram down, I also wouldn’t go seeking it out explicitly.