Adelphi Limited Isle of Jura 21 Years Old

A little background

Jura, A distillery I find rather… boring, sometimes even offensive and to be honest do not like and that is exactly why I purchased this bottle! Jura is an old fashioned distillery providing spirits for their own bottlings and a lot of blended whisky. Adelphi, as a tier one bottler and jura by Adelphi – well…Gotta try it!

(Tasted neat from a 1920s blenders Glass)

Color

Dark Brown

Nose

Wow, distinct smokiness and savoriness to that. Extreme earthiness, unusual straight away – No hiding that fact. This is herbal, medicinal and savory. Exceptionally so. This whisky is one one of the most unusual whiskies I’ve nosed. There is fatty notes, oily and reminds me of a spoonful of bovril and pork rinds with black pepper. Yeasty, meaty, earthy through and through. The bitter cherry comes out after a few nosing attempts, but it is like a piece of meat in liquid form with mud thrown all over it with a hint of minerality.

Palate

The palate is equally as strange as the nose. Imagine a piece of stake mating with a pot of burnt sugar – then you get some dry and burnt tobacco, Spanish cedar but an unrelenting savoriness to it. The yeastiness is prevailing, cereal notes too. Licorice, herbal and distinct heavy salinity. Second sip becomes heavier and progresses and builds on itself. It is very saline – Imagine a horse and a salt lick.

Finish

Mouth feel is not as heavy as the nose but the finish is long. There is a strange disconnect with the heaviness of the nose and the mouthfeel and finish but that makes it super interesting.

In closing

Super interesting whisky, nothing like any Jura you’ve had. If you like Jura, I think you will like this because it is Jura times 1000. Be warned though, it’s a strange beast and I’ve still not decided if i like it. However, I’m damn glad I have it. Do yourself a favor and don’t add water, it makes the flavors unintegrated and takes away the cohesion. But try it anyways maybe you prefer it.