Jura distillery information

The Isle of Jura Distillery

The Isle of Jura Distillery

The remote isle of Jura lies on the west coast of Scotland, north-west of the Island (and whisky region) of Islay. The Jura distillery was established in 1810 under the name Small Isles distillery, by Archibald Campbell, who distilled a rather peaty whisky. Licensing was obtained in 1931, by its owner at the time, who also renamed the distillery to The Isle of Jura distillery. In 1884, it was rebuilt under new ownership, only to be dismantled around 1910. The buildings fell into disarray, and when around 1950 a group of locals decided to restart the distillery, few parts of the buildings, other than the walls, were reused. Designed by renowned architect William Delmé-Evans(who also designed Tullibardine and Glenallachie), the Jura distillery reopened in 1963, equipped with tall lantern-necked stills, this time producing a far less peaty, more Highland-ish style. The exceptions to this is the more peaty Superstition expression, and the heavily peated Prophecy.

A nice bit of trivia about the Isle of Jura itself is that it is the location where George Orwell wrote his masterpiece ‘1984’ from 1947 to 1948.

Jura whisky

Jura currently offers 4 different whiskies:

  • Origin – A 10 Year Old, ages in Bourbon Casks
  • Superstition – As stated above, this is more peaty than the other whiskies
  • Diurachs’ Own – 16 Years Old, 14 of which are spent in American white oak, followed by 2 more years in ex-Amoroso sherry casks
  • Prophecy – Like Superstition, this is a peated version, though far more heavily peated. First released in 2009, Prophecy is released in much smaller batches.

 

The tall lantern stills at the Isle of Jura distillery

The tall lantern stills at the Isle of Jura distillery

Distillery info:

NameJura
RegionIsland
Logo
StatusActive
Founded1810
Water sourceLoch a Bhaille Mhargaidh
Owned byUnited Spirits / Whyte and Mackay
AddressJura Distillery
Craighouse
Isle of Jura
ArgyllPA60 7XT

+(44) 1496 820 385

Visitor centreYes
Websitehttp://www.jurawhisky.com/
Twitterhttps://twitter.com/jura_whisky
Facebookhttps://www.facebook.com/JuraWhisky
CommunityDiurach
Map

Distillery Setup:

Component
Capacity
Quantity
Mash tun24,000 litres1 (Semi-lauter, stainless steel)
Washback48,000 litres6 (stainless steel)
Wash still25,000 litres2
Spirit Still22,000 litres2
Expected yearly output in LPA (Litres of pure alcohol)2,300,000