Jura Superstition

Jura Superstition

I had wanted to try something from the Jura Distillery and read some reviews on this Whiskey.  Jura is a reasonably sized island a stones throw north east of Islay, and there is only one distillery, and one road (single track) on the island. It boasts a population of between 200-300.  In addition, you can become an honorary member of the people of Jura, and get a free dram once a month for life....at the only bar on Jura.  (I bet they give out between 200-300 each month).

Jura was described as "different", "complex", and "peaty" by the reviews I read.   After trying it, I agree that the first two are definitely true.

When I gave my glass a sniff, I didn't notice anything unusual about it.  Smelled quite good.  However in tasting it, one gets quite a surprise.  It is stong tasting.  And not like a cask strength whiskey.  The flavour is bold and different.  Sort of sweet, but with a definite "taste".  I had to add water to this, which is unusual for me.  The only other whiskey that I have found needed water was Aberlour A'Bunadh and only because that was a cask strength whiskey.  At 43%, I would normally not add water to a whiskey like Jura Superstition.  Yet I found that this whiskey needed water - not a bad thing, but different.

The taste is unusual.  I was searching for the right description. I did not taste much peat, or smokiness at all.  But there was something there.  On reading the box I found it.  Pine.  There is a mild taste sort of like chewing pine needles.  It isn't overpowering, but it is there.  It is also not off-putting, at least to me.  I liked the fact that this is different.  It kind of tastes like a "baby laphroaig".   I would not consider this to be an overly smooth whiskey, or a go-to whiskey,  especially for someone not into single malt exploration, but for something different this is the road less travelled.  Sort of like the road on the island that the whiskey comes from.

EDIT:  When we finished off the bottle, we concluded that this whisky is quite good.  It is much more "spicy" then other scotches, and again, for something different, it is worth a try.