I haven't tried many whiskies lately, but I stopped into a local mom and pop liquor store near my flat planning on something inexpensive for ordinary dramming, a bottle of Jameson perhaps. I noticed on the top shelf of the cramped little store a bottle of the Isle of Jura Superstition.
This is the first bottle of Superstition I've seen. As far as I know it hasn't been available at the main whisky specialist stores in town. (I know one feels they have too much inventory, and too old an inventory, and is not adding much in the way of new "enthusiast" bottlings until they sell off some of their old Cadenheads, MMD's and such.) I complemented the clerk on the store's selection - which wasn't a threat to the specialist stores mentioned above, but was quite good for a little store catering mainly to the local college students - and the clerk, who turned out to be the mom in "mom and pop", told me it was because her husband loved Scotch... I'll have to visit the little place more often. Noticed they still had a few Lagavulin 16's - and though they were ridiculously priced at $75, one big store wants $95 for a bottle and they're out of them anyway.
The Superstition was $32. An Isle of Jura 16yo was $40. Although $32 was more than I had planned to spend that evening when I entered the store, I walked out with the Superstition, which I had wanted to taste ever since I first heard of it.
Superstition is a combination of some young well-peated Jura with some older Jura made in the familiar Jura style, which is almost un-peated. I don't have the info on the ages of the two components, but the peated style component is quite young - I remember talk of this when the malt was first distilled and that wasn't long ago. Superstition carries no age statement. If it did it would have to be the age of the peated component - 3 or 4 or 5 years. The older unpeated component is probably in its mid-teens, but I don't have info on that. It is still a Single Malt, being produced entirely from malted barley and the product of a single distillery, though "Single-Vatted" might be a better description.
It is unusual in this very traditional industry, to market a malt which is a vatting of different styles of whisky all produced in-house at a single distilley. Until recently most distilleries didn't purposefully produce different styles of whisky, though it is not unheard of. I suppose *most* still don't, although it's becoming more common. Bruichladdich is doing so aggressively. Edradour is too, or will soon. Springbank and Tobermory and of course Loch Lomond do so, but with the possible exception of Loch Lomond they don't market malts which are a vatting of the seperate styles they produce. At least not yet.
The whisky is also bottled not at the common 43% (or 40%) ABV but rather at 45%. For my palate that was the correct strength. I didn't like water in this one, although some one else might prefer it that way.
Every peat lover's senses begin to tingle when they hear of a new well-peated expression, but this is no peat-monster. Its peatiness reminded me very much of the Ledaig 15yo, which I tasted not too long ago. Tasted against Talisker and peaty Islays it would be a disappointment; against highland and mild island whiskies it would show its strength.
It seemed a bit hot, in a spicy-peppery way as well as "spirity". The spiritiness would be about right considering the youth of its peaty component, though I don't have any idea of the proportions in the mix. I do not think either component was sherry aged. Its colour suggests a bit of caramel colouring was used - it's definitely darker than the standard expression. The palate reminded me of Ardmore a little bit, and of Ledaig a good bit. It isn't a great "must not miss" whisky. But it must count as a score for Kyndal, the producers of Isle of Jura. It really grew on me, and I must admit that I ended up liking it very much. It was modestly priced for a special edition whisky, making something interesting available even for enthusiasts on a budget. Diageo (UDV) could take a lesson there.
A very tasty expression and I hated to see it finished. I regret not having a standard Jura 10yo to taste it against. That would have been an interesting and revealing comparison. And the Ankh is a bit silly, but it does make the bottle stand out on the shelf!
There is still a 16yo on the store's shelves waiting to be explored sometime. Anyone familiar with that one?
Bart
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(Does an old whisky go bad? How long will a whisky last?)
If unopened - Ad Infinitum! If opened - until temptation prevails.
---------- Jas Milne ( snipped-for-privacy@aol.com) ---------------------------- in alt.drinks.scotch-whisky