Single malt whisky - tasting notes

04 Dec 2009

Jura Prophecy

Posted by: Ruben In: Jura

Another one I discovered at the recent Whisky Festival in Madrid. I had a chat with Willie Tait from Jura distillery and he offered me a dram of the latest “profoundly peated” Isle of Jura Prophecy. It’s a limited release of around 10.000 bottles with new batches expected every year.

It’s a mixture of casks with different peat levels and peat styles, finished off by a 1989 oloroso sherry butt from Gonzalez Byass. It’s non-chill-filtered but coloured with caramel, I’m afraid.

Jura Prophecy Isle of Jura Prophecy (46%, OB 2009)

Nose: good integration of the sherry and the peat. There’s smoke (burnt leaves) but it’s not as profoundly peated as I would have expected. Slightly tarry and even some medicinal notes. Everything’s rounded off by dried fruits, chocolate, hints of cinnamon, nutmeg and oranges. A bit uncommon as a whole maybe, but very enjoyable. Mouth: much more peat now. Starting slightly sweet with fruity notes but soon getting (a lot) drier and spicier (pepper, cinnamon). A good deal of smoke. Overall punchy and clean. Finish: dry smoke coated with liquorice and spices. Medium length.

This new Jura Prophecy is a nice dram and although it’s typically Jura, it presents a new profile at the same time. Around € 55.

Score: 84/100

Jura Prophecy 3 Ruben [WhiskyNotes] 2009-12-04">

9 Responses to "Jura Prophecy"

1 | Richard Paterson

December 4th, 2009 at 11:22

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Thanks for the kind words Ruben. Have you seen that we’re offering free stays on Jura and trips to the distillery for people on Facebook?

http://www.themasterblender.com/free-stay-jura-lodge/

2 | Simon

December 4th, 2009 at 12:11

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Why in the name of all thats holy, do you go to the bother of bottling at 46%, not chill filtering, and then add a dollup of caramel!!?!?!?!?

Distillers, flush the caramel down the toilet!

4 | Ruben

December 4th, 2009 at 12:44

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Generally speaking I’m not a fan of E150 either, but you never know what the result would have been without it. I guess any added sweetness (or caramel bitterness for that matter) didn’t hurt this Jura Prophecy, otherwise it would have been very dry and adding more sherry casks would probably alter the character alltogether?

Richard, I get your point when you say the caramel is added to strengthen the confidence for customers. But isn’t this less important for small batch releases? If Superstition batch #2 looks slightly different from batch #1, maybe I would be more tempted to try the new one as well? Otherwise, what’s the point of mentioning a batch number if you want them all to look the same? Continuity is really a blender’s concept in my opinion, and the usage of caramel is relevant there, but it doesn’t make much sense for single malts that are all about individuality.

5 | Richard Paterson

December 22nd, 2009 at 15:02

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Ruben, you’re entitled to your opinion but I’m sure you’ll understand if we agree to disagree…

6 | Ruben

December 22nd, 2009 at 15:09

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Sure, I guess we’re looking at it from a different perspective. Thanks for dropping by, Richard.

7 | Announcing our Whisky Auction Fundraisers for Haiti | Richard Paterson

January 27th, 2010 at 12:50

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[...] The first is for a full week’s stay on the Jura Lodge on the isle of Jura, where up to eight people can stay for a week, enjoying the scenery and sounds of the beautiful island. They will also receive gift bottles of whisky and a tour of the distillery, learning more about the various Jura expressions including Superstition and Prophecy. [...]

8 | Steve

August 27th, 2010 at 20:21

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I’m a whiskey novice, and I’m much less inclined to buy a branded whiskey; and this is just after 2 years of drinking scotch! Stop Bull sh**ting the customer!

9 | Isle of Jura Prophecy (2009, OB, 46%) | whiskyfacile

December 31st, 2011 at 12:54

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[...] forza e intensità e sono molto ben combinate. Il nostro giudizio è di 85/100, ma Ruben la pensa così (segnaliamo, nei commenti sulla pagina, un piccolo dibattito sulla colorazione con caramello in cui [...]

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WhiskyNotes - Ruben LuytenThis blog is my personal collection of impressions, written while searching for the ultimate single malt whisky.