At one time, every household on the Isle of Jura made enough "Scotch" whisky for their own needs. What happened to that?

However that was before the Scottish Parliament made their first tax levy on Scotch whisky in 1644. Then at various times during the 1700’s when the harvest was poor the producing of whisky was legally banned in order to save barley for food.

Many illegal whisky stills were then being operated and there are places on Isle of Jura where evidence of these stills can still be seen. In 1823 a licence fee of £10 was required to legally set up a whisky still. In spite of this, illicit distilling still took place with some of the whisky being consumed on the Isle of Jura the rest being smuggled to the Lowlands of Scotland.

The original Isle of Jura distillery was built in the early 1800’s close to a cave where illegal distilling had probably taken place for many years. It was built by Campbell, the Laird and Chief of the Campbell clan, and let out to many people over the years.    It is recorded it could produce 720 gallons of Scotch whisky per week.

It was then leased to James Ferguson in 1875 and was rebuilt in 1884, producing some 64,000 gallons per year.  When the lease expired, the Laird (owner) attempted to put up the rent. Ferguson would have none of it and dismantled and sold the machinery.  The roof was removed to avoid rates and it seemed as if distilling on Jura had come to an end.

The present Isle of Jura Whisky distillery was built on the site of the old one in 1963, with additions in 1971.  It has changed hands a number of times and is currently owned by Whyte and Mackay one of the major Scotch Whisky firms.

Note: The Isle of Jura Distillery is fairly close to the Isle of Jura Hotel where you can redeem the accommodation discount voucher supplied to all our Laird of Jura members.

Discover more about Scotch whisky distilleries on DVD

What is the process for producing Isle of Jura Whisky?

There are a number of different stages involved in the production of Scotch whisky in particular

a) Malting the barley

b) Milling and mashing the barley

c) Fermentation

d) Distillation

e) Maturation/aging whisky

f) Bottling

Each of them in turn affecting the overall taste and quality of the finished drink and each stage will be considered here separately. We will also be considering the taste of each of the whisky brands produced by the Isle of Jura distillery.

The main ingredients of Scotch Whisky is water and barley (the latter being malted prior to being delivered to the distillery). These two ingredients plus the special care given to the whole process influence the taste more than anything else.

The Isle of Jura Whisky Distillery does not malt its own whisky but buys it in to exact specifications from a malting plant. This leaves the malting process in the hands of malting specialists and allows the distillery managers to concentrate on what they are specialist at doing.

Malting is simply the process of steeping the barley in water until germination and small shoots start to appear. The enzymes produced during this stage converts the starch in the barley into sugars which can later ferment into alcohol. Germination is then stopped by heating in a malt kiln. Many Scotch whisky distilleries use a peat fire at this stage to add a peat flavour to the barley and consequently to the taste of the whisky produced from it.

Except for about three weeks a year when it is making its Superstition brand the Isle of Jura distillery does not use the heavy peated barley so producing much lighter tasting whisky. If you visit the Isle of Jura distillery on one its free tours (weekdays by appointment) you will be offered an opportunity to see the three different barleys used in the distillery.

Just as there is little peat in the barley used by the Isle of Jura distillery it also uses a very soft water throughout. This water is taken from a local spring named Bhaile Mhargaidh (literally spring of the market town) that has flowed down from the hillside over rock rather than peat and is hence clearer in colour and purer in taste. It is believed that this same spring water has been used in making illicit whisky since the sixteenth century.

Can you tell the taste between the different brands of Isle of Jura Whisky?

The Isle of Jura Whisky distillery does not produce the heavy peated whisky associated with the whisky distilleries on the neighbouring Isle of Islay. Instead it is more like the traditional scotch highland whisky but has a unique taste all of its own.

The combination of a very lightly peated malt with the pure water (coming from a local spring the Bhaille Mharghaidh which flows over rock and so carries very little peat) coupled with some of the highest whisky stills in Scotland and the very slow maturation near the sea to give a very slightly salty taste together produces some of the finest whisky in the world.

The main brands sold to the public are their 10 year old Isle of Jura Scotch Whisky, the 16 year Isle of Jura scotch whisky, the more intense taste of the 21 year old Isle of Jura whisky along with the "Isle of Jura Superstition" Scotch Whisky.

However these make up only a small proportion of the total whisky distilled on the Isle of Jura the rest is blended with other whiskies from across Scotland to help make up the wide range of whiskies produced by the parent company.

10 year old Isle of Jura Whisky

The distillery describes this as being clean fresh and light.

However that almost ignores the very full rich aromatic taste that if allowed to roll around the palette reveals an attractive flavour that will linger there and reflect the true nature of the Isle of Jura.

16 year old Isle of jura Whisky

This Isle of Jura single malt whisky is one of the most popular of the range.

Naturally it does not have as bold a taste as its 21 year old more expensive cousin but it will suit the taste of many sophisticated Scotch malt whisky drinkers.

Definitely worth trying a bottle or two to get to know it.

21 year old Isle of Jura Whisky

This mature Isle of Jura Scotch whisky has been kept in its cask for at least 21 years prior to bottling — most of that time in a secure cold warehouse at the top of a hill overlooking small isle bay and Craighouse.

This position has helped it absorb the freshness of the salt air keeping it cool and of course exchanging it with some of it’s evaporating alcoholic spirit (known as "the angel’s share").

Let this linger under your nose for some time as you sip it to capture the full flavour before the warmth of the whisky wraps itself around your tongue.

Isle of Jura Superstition Scotch Whisky

The Isle of Jura Superstition blend is designed for those who like to have a more peater taste in their scotch whisky. Created by blending two different blending cultures one being from the neighbouring island of Islay the other coming from a number of other aged malt whisky distillations.

Its name derives from the age old myth saying it is unlucky to cut peat in April as opposed to May. Each bottle strongly features the Ankh cross (which tends to put me off it) deemed to conduct divine power of immortality to anyone close enough to absorb its positive energy.

Maturing in American white oak casks has resulted in it acquiring a strong rich aroma to be enjoyed as you swirl the whisky around the glass. This is a single malt whisky to be sipped rather than drunk if you want to get the full lingering aftertaste. Despite its name and symbolism I like it!

Discover even more about  Scotch whisky with our DVD

What do you really think will give Isle of Jura whisky that taste that makes it unique amongst all  whiskies (whether a scotch whisky or not)?

The aging of whisky and the effect that has on the final taste of the whisky is to many people the most surprising part of the whole production process. Some experts have stated that how and where the aging process takes place can contribute as much as 50% of the overall taste differences between brands.

The Isle of Jura whisky distillery uses a mix of oak casks. About 10% of them are former Sherry casks the rest of them are American Bourbon casks. The majority of the latter are being re-used so will have lost virtually all their original vanilla flavour. This produces a much finer and purer taste that does not need to be enhanced by other "foreign" tastes.

Why use a oak cask for aging whisky?

Firstly it is not airtight. The oak allows for surrounding air to enter the cask . It also allows some 1% or 2% of the "whisky" to evaporate and escape excise duty but as alcohol evaporates faster than the water its strength in the whisky can in theory decrease the longer the whisky is stored in the cask.

Where the casks are stored can also make a difference. Casks stored on a dry concrete floor encourages water to evaporate creating a dryer whisky with a higher alcohol content. Casks stored in a warehouse with a solid earth floor will lose more alcohol than water. In the same way warehouses near the sea such as those used by the Isle of Jura whisky distillery company will have a slight salt taste of some whisky compared with those on the mainland.

By the way if you are going around the Isle of Jura distillery have a look at the original whisky maturing warehouse shed now being used as a repairing cooperage. Its craftsman built roof joists spanning such a sizeable shed are magnificent to look at and date back to 1810 when the original whisky distillery was built.

Whisky is not actually bottled on the Isle of Jura but is transferred to the mainland. Whilst the bottles labelled Isle of Jura Whisky are a malt whisky (i.e. not mixed with other types of whisky) the whisky is also used in blended whisky in other brands owned by the parent company. For commercial reasons the company is fairly secret about which malt whisky is used in their various brands.

Continue the tour of our Isle of Jura Distillery

Did you know that you can visit the Isle of Jura whisky distillery and see for yourself how they make it?

In true Scots hospitality  they also give you a not so  "wee dram"

But before you can drink the Isle of Jura whisky it needs to be made!

Prior to the distillation of the whisky the barley must be ground to make a form of course flour. This is a fairly noisy but important process in the Isle of Jura Whisky Distillery achieved by the barley passing down a number of gravity fed milling rollers to form a grist.

The grist is then passed into large mash tuns with up to four times its own volumes of warm water to dissolve the sugars — retaining the solids to act as a cattle feed. (Don’t worry you will not see drunken cattle on the road as there has been no yeast added yet to produce any alcohol!)

The sugared juice (called wort) has still not started to ferment so yeast is added to produce alcohol and carbon dioxide. Often during this rapid bubbling process it is possible to feel the huge stainless steel wash back tuns vibrate. Up to now there is very little difference between the brewing of some beers and the production of whisky spirits. It is only in the next stage the brewing of beer and production of Scotch Whisky begins to divide.

The large copper stills comprise of two pairs of almost identical size (shown above) and are amongst the tallest in the whisky industry. It is at this stage that the alcohol is removed with the alcohol boiling off at 80 degrees compared with water at 100 degrees. The first pair of stills (referred to the low wines stills) hold 48,000 litres between them.

The liquid is heated by use of steam coils with samples of the distillate being taken at regular intervals until the hydrometer reading shows no more alcohol remains. This is done over a period of eight hours. At this stage the distillate will around 21% alcohol. (The control panel and testing area just visible on the left side of the photo also serves as a viewing area for visitors on the whisky distillery tour.)

The second stage of the whisky distillation process takes place in the second smaller pair of stills. This distillation is taken even more slower with the stills running for eleven hours although the important required "middle cut" is only being taken for about a third of that time. Again here one of the steam coils is switched off during that middle cut to enable a better separation of the alcohol content.

At this point the distillate will be around 70% but diluted to around 63.5% alcohol with the addition of more spring water. However it is still illegal to call this alcoholic spirit "whisky". In addition it still lacks that distinctive flavour we would associate with Isle of Jura Scotch whisky.

Continue the tour of the Isle of Jura Whisky distillery

Scottish humour (or humor if you are from the USA) is said to a very dry humour and often seen as putting down our nation and our own people.

For example one of the most common jokes in Scottish humour is about the meanness or frugality of Scots people. For example we still love to joke that we are tight fisted.

Advert in local newspaper.  For Sale Used Gravestone ideal for family named McDonald.

After a rather poor collection was gathered in, the church minister prayed, "We thank you , dear Lord, that the collection plate has been returned safely"

In reality research figures over many years have consistently shown that per head of population we give far more to charity than our English counterparts.

Many of us — including myself — love to hear the bagpipes when they are played well but with our Scottish humor we can joke about the sound they make to untrained ears that have no taste.

Wee Sandy had just moved to London.  Visited by a friend from Scotland he was asked how he was doing.

"Weel",he said, "its jist grand, apart from the English Neighbours. The lot next door scream and shout and doonstairs is forever knocking up wi a broom".

"For goodness sake, Sandy, How do you stand all this commotion?"asked his friend.

"Och,ah jist keep quietly practicing on ma pipes!"

A lot of Scottish humour includes jokes about our national drink (Scotch Whisky) often with a well deserved put down for other drinks that pretend to be our whisky.

For example three CEO’s of large whisky companies went into a hotel bar.

"Okay barman ", said the first one, "give me a Japanese Whisky, the finest whisky in the world." The Barman gives him his drink.

"Right barman," said the second CEO, Give me a large American Whiskey, the finest whisky in the world."  The Barman gives him his drink.

"Right barman," said the Scottish CEO. "Give me a coke"

The other two Whisky CEOs were astonished and asked " Why aren’t you drinking Scotch whisky?"

"Well", said the Scot, " I reckoned if you guys aren’t drinking whisky, neither would I"

We also love to to use our particular brand of Scottish humor to have a go at our politicians.

99.9% of Scots are decent, hardworking, law abiding and and honest citizens.  But we still have to learn to accept the blame for electing the other 0.1% to govern us.

But maybe more than anything the Scottish Humor tends to love to have a joke about our English neighbours south of the border.

When God created Scotland, He looked down on it with great satisfaction. Finally He called the Archangel Gabriel to have a look.

“Just see,” said God. “This is the best yet. Splendid mountains, beautiful scenery, brave men, the very finest of all women, nice cool weather. And I’ve given them beautiful music and a special drink called whisky. Try some.”

Gabriel took an appreciative sip.

“Excellent,” he said. “But haven’t you perhaps been too kind to them? Won’t they be spoiled by all these things? Should there not be some drawback?”

“Just wait till you see the neighbours they’re getting,” said God.

We will be adding large numbers of pages of Scottish humor jokes to this website over the next few months. Come back and see them regularly.

Alternatively contribute your own Scottish Humour to our pages below