What you need to know:

• Jura’s new Rum Cask Finish joins a Sherry Cask Finish and a Red Wine Cask Finish as part of the Cask Editions series.
• Sniffs like Guave, Coconut, Almonds, Apricots, Citrus.
• Tastes like Vanilla, Fudge, hints (almost suggestions even) of Mango, Banana and Guava.
• Tropical and fruity, it goes well with fruit punch and ginger beer.
• Jura the distillery is not worth trying to get to, made George Orwell write Nineteen-Eighty-four as a result. Also more deer than people there.
• I like rum cask finished whiskies, so sue me (I’m kidding please don’t).

In the world of branding, especially luxury branding, something is always one of a kind or highly unique. But how many brands can claim that they are situated somewhere so elusive that there are more deer than people on its site, or that George Orwell literally called the place “extremely unget-at-able”, so much so that it inspired the completion of the cult-classic Nineteen-Eighty-four.

Well that’s Jura for you.

 
How difficult the trip must have been for George Orwell to conceive Nineteen-Eighty-four. (Image Source: Cathay Pacific)

Jura Distillery is situated on the island of Jura, off the West Coast of Scotland and is only accessible via one road, and has one pub, one distillery, and requires a flight, followed by a car ride to a ferry, which then brings you to an island, by which you then cross to Jura by another ferry, and then you need to get your hands on a car to get you to the distillery itself.

So, basically, it’s a miracle that any whisky or anything comes out of the place at all. 

And you complain about the morning commute to your office.

As part of Jura’s Cask Editions range, the distillery has now released - or shall we say a new bottling has escaped this maze – a new Rum Cask Finish. This is third in the range, which started with a Red Wine Cask Finish bottling and then a Sherry Cask Finish expression, both of which came out in 2020.

The new bottle was originally matured in American white oak ex-Bourbon barrels, followed by a finish in Caribbean rum casks.

The distillery tells us that we can expect the following notes:

Nose: Exotic Guava and Coconut, Sugar-coated Almonds, Apricots and a touch of Citrus 

Palate: Vanilla and Fudge, hints of Mango, Banana and Guava 

The goal here, as a head blender Gregg Glass points out, is to showcase Jura’s whisky in various casks to bring out new flavors, with the Rum Cask Finish aiming to create a “beautifully tropical and fruity result”. 

Supposedly goes great with fruit punch or ginger beer as well.

Our take: 

Cask finishing is all the rage right now, and sure some will say this is just looking at the same elephant from different angles, but I do think it has certainly brought us some interesting and actually good whisky. 

Recalling the Talisker Rum Cask Finish and the Balvenie Golden Cask, or the Benriach Rum Cask, which were all superb whiskies.

I’ve been a big fan of rum cask finishing because of that funky fruity Tropicana flavors it gives the whisky, which just goes so well when you find yourself chilling on a lounge chair by the beach since Covid has basically rendered us with only #throwback photos of when we were in Bali.

I find the flavors really good especially with soda water – blasphemous I know, which makes the drink refreshing and fruity with that funky kick. A great summer drink, because in Singapore it’s summer all year round.

So personally, I’m really keen on trying this and you won’t find complaints from me about all these cask finishing theatrics.

@111hotpot