Isle of Jura Distillery — Islands Single Malt Whisky

Isle of Jura Distillery is a Scotch whisky distillery located in Craighouse on the Isle of Jura, in the Inner Hebrides, Scotland. It was founded in 1810 and is currently owned by Emperador Distillers Inc (via Whyte & Mackay). Famously remote — the island has a single road, one village, and a population far outnumbered by its deer — Jura produces a range of whiskies known for their soft, fruity character despite the wild landscape that surrounds them.

History

A distillery has stood at Craighouse since 1810, when it was established by Archibald Campbell, the Laird of Jura, on the site of earlier illicit stills. Like many island distilleries, its early history was turbulent: production lapsed, the site was rebuilt in 1884, and by around 1900 it had fallen into disuse altogether, with the buildings later stripped for materials. Jura whisky-making lay dormant for over half a century until local landowners Robin Fletcher and Tony Riley-Smith spearheaded a rebuild in the late 1950s, partly to halt depopulation of the island, with the new distillery completed in 1963. Ownership passed to Invergordon Distillers in 1985, and in 1993 Jura was acquired by Whyte & Mackay alongside Bruichladdich and Tullibardine. Whyte & Mackay itself changed hands several times over the following decades, and since 2014 the group — and Jura with it — has been owned by Emperador Distillers Inc, part of the Philippines-based Alliance Global Group. Over the years Jura's stills were made unusually tall, a deliberate choice intended to produce a lighter style of spirit suited to blending, and this continues to shape the distillery's fruity, restrained house character today.

Quick Facts

• Region: Islands
• Founded: 1810
• Owner: Emperador Distillers Inc (Alliance Global Group)
• Status: Active
• Stills: 2 wash stills and 2 spirit stills, notably tall in design

Core Range

Jura's core single malt range centres on age-stated expressions: the Jura 12 Year Old (40% ABV), an approachable, fruity entry point; the Jura 14 Year Old (typically finished in ex-bourbon and American oak casks); and the Jura 18 Year Old (44% ABV), a richer, more complex older bottling. The range also includes cask-finish expressions such as American Bourbon Cask and Caribbean Rum Cask editions, travel-retail exclusives (13, 16 and 19 Year Old variants), and periodic Rare & Limited releases including older vintage bottlings up to 21 and 28 Years Old.