Jura Seven Wood

So I've been meaning to write up a review on this for a little while but have put it off. Circumstances have forced my hand as a friend left an excellent bottle of RUA from @gwrdistilling and took this bottle in return. Jura Distillery is located on the Island of Jura. Fun fact, George Orwell wrote the novel "1984" while staying there. I purchased the bottle when it first came out as I was fairly new to whisky and was intrigued on the premise of seven different types of oak barrels being used in maturation. I've never heard of Jura before and went on their website, which looked a lot different then it does now. I distinctly remember the website implying that the distillery was owned and operated by the small community residing on the island. The truth is that the current distillery was rebuilt in 1963 by the island's owners as a way to stop further decline in population of the island. The distillery has been owned by Whyte and Mackay Group since 1995, which was acquired by Emperador Distillers Inc. in 2014. The distillery is pretty much the only source of work for those who live on the Island of Jura. On the nose there's some citrus and baked apple notes with touch of cinnamon. On the palate it starts out sweet like honey and candied apple, slight nuttiness then there's a bit of citrus and ginger notes with black pepper spice followed by bitterness and slightly metallic finish. It's interesting to nurse this and almost taste the influence of the different types of oaks, however, there's nothing that really ends up happening. It feels like this was rushed and not enough time given in European oaks. Interesting premise that is flawed in execution. It's not bad, but I had much higher expectations for this. Maybe future releases will show improvement.

I did a lot of homework before tasting this whisky. Jura Seven Wood has been matured in the following Oak Barrels: Ex-Bourbon, Vosgues, Jupilles, Allier, Les Bertranges, Limousin and Tronçais. Most of them are casks used in the maturation of red wines like Pinot Noir, Merlot and Cabernet Franc; Cognac and Champagne. They actually come from different forests and forest's subzones of France. But, are the seven different barrels giving this Jura the complexity it promises? At only 42%abv? The answer is yes. It is a Rollercoaster of diverse flavors and aromas. It is not that expensive and it is worth trying. Let's decode the aroma and tasting notes: On the nose, it is amazingly complex yet very balanced. Starts with burnt grass, then becomes toffee and white chocolate. Old oranges, wet grass, sown land, freshly baked brownies, caramel, fancy vanilla, chocolate milk formula, almonds..... Crazy good. Crazy stuff. After first sip, it gave me chocolate fudge, perfumed peat and wet clothes. On the Palate, it is a little plain: vanilla, grassy, wasabi rises after 3 seconds. Second sip gave me peated water. Very dry. Aftertaste is good. Rewarding. Smokey, peppery. Bonfire wood. Salty, pleasant smokiness. Overall this is a very easy drinkable whisky, very well balanced and beautifully crafted. I would  say this is a great offering in Jura, that you can give to an unexperienced drinker to show how diverse a whisky "pallette" can be, without throwing off-putting flavors to the person enjoying it. My score for it is 88 over 100, most points come from the nose.

So my kid has this video soccer game where he can do tricky dribbles and moves, and through sheer acrobatics, score a goal like Ronaldo and Messi combined. But when I take him to his weekly soccer matches ( back when we were allowed out—-remember those days?), he’d do a dribble or two, and end up losing the ball. And I gently try to explain to him after the match “ get solid on the fundamentals before you start doing fancier moves”. He’s super good in math, two grades over his level...so, it’s cool that he can’t dribble,,,he’ll be fine. I’d have the same unsolicited piece of advice for Jura. Before you go tricking with 7 wood finishes, just try to get one right. This here was a sample I opened up, hoping the 7 woods would add exponentially to complexity and depth. More like accelerated downward logarithm. As time passed, just got worse. Weak nose of shortbread cookies, and tastes of chocolate and bakery sweets. On the brightside: Jura still remains as the one distillery that I’ve yet to like any of their products, and they’ve kept that trend with this one, for me at least.

Got Wood? Yup. Bourbon Barrels? Yup. Wine barrels? Yup, yup. Whiskey Barrels, you know it! All sounds spectacular, but is it?? On the nose: some floral notes strike first. Followed by a note of vanilla spice, leather, and a touch of honey. Green grape with Oak come in at the end. On the palate: Chocolate and spice. A soft palate with a little kick; sea salt and coffee opens the show with chocolate being the main event. - taste of Oak and Pine make an appearance. The feel is rich, but lighter than that of other Jura offerings. It coats the mouth nicely, but doesn’t last long. The finish returns some salt and light vanilla, but doesn’t stick around. Bottom line: Jura has a lot of controversy from its fan- you either love it or hate it.Some bottles are great, others forget about it. I respect that they try new and different things, but this bottle is forgettable in my opinion. Some unique offerings yes, but far too light and nothing memorable IMO. Give it a try if you want to quiz your palate, but I think Jura has better variations to offer in their 10&12 year.

COLOUR: Bronze LEGS: Thin clothesline with many tiny dots; every 3 dots coalesces into a bigger drop that very slowly drops down the glass; it looks very thick and coating. NOSE: Rich and malty; moderately powerful (4/5); sweetness of caramel, toffee, and maple syrup; orange chocolate; very slight black pepper at the end; slightly salty too. Very nice. WITH WATER (5 drops into 10mL): a bit subdued, but the sweetness rises, and some smoldering tobacco arrives. Score 8/10 TASTE: Thick and rich; sweet liquid caramel toffee; brine. WITH WATER: much more subdued and diluted; sweetness diminishes; saltiness rises significantly at the end. Score: 8.5/10 FINISH: Medium; sweetness lingers; slightly drying. WITH WATER: sweeter and longer. Score 7/10 OVERALL: Very nice and lovely dram. Heavily sweet and lightly balanced; sweet, thick, mouth-coating with no burn; delicious; better without water. Weighted Score 8.2/10 IMAGERY: Back at the B&B after touring the coast of Jura -- there is a remembrance of the sea, but it is mostly a warm and cozy room.

My questions are: Why? Did we need to mix this many barrels? Was the name and idea a marketing gimmick that someone really thought was supposed to create something special? It all supports previous assumptions that over-blending and mixing of young and/or lower quality, especially when paired with various random finishes, will always be a sum equal to its parts. The amount of places this goes and how quickly it goes really gets distracting. Vanilla, ginger, hot plastic, sawdust. Finishes quick with lemon rinds, brine, and a bitterness (bitter coffee?) that isn't pleasant. There's an overall "funk," but I'm still not sure if the various woodd fighting each other for space or just lower quality whisky. It's not hot from a lack of maturity. I'm lost. I find it close to Springbank 10, where I almost like or dislike it every other sip.