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 Luyten 2009-12-04
  • http://www.themasterblender.com Richard Paterson

    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/

  • Simon

    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!

  • http://www.themasterblender.com Richard Paterson

    Simon, I get asked this a lot. I’ve spoken about chill and caramel before:

    http://blog.maltadvocate.com/2009/07/31/guest-blogger-richard-paterson-master-blender/#comment-7322

  • http://www.whiskynotes.be Ruben

    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.

  • http://www.themasterblender.com Richard Paterson

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

  • http://www.whiskynotes.be Ruben

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

  • Pingback: Announcing our Whisky Auction Fundraisers for Haiti | Richard Paterson

  • Steve

    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!

  • Pingback: Isle of Jura Prophecy (2009, OB, 46%) | whiskyfacile

  • Rick Campanella

    My local bartender, Paul, at St.Andrews on west 46th St NYC suggested the Jura Prophecy when I asked him to show me something that I’d never tried… it’s FANTASTIC! I’m going to have to buy bottle to have at home now.

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  • WhiskyNotes: I meant that in an affirmative way: you absolutely wouldn't be tempted to think this was distilled on Islay, because it's clearly different.
  • StuartHighland: 'You would never think this was distilled on Islay'... that because it wasnt. It was distilled at Balblair, but matured in a cask previously used by a
  • WhiskyNotes: Thanks Sjoerd. Not that I'm not interested, but it's Glenflagler mixed with other malts so I'm afraid it's not an option to tick it off my list. Thank

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1258 notes by Ruben

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