A young Jura matured in a refill cask from an independent bottler— don’t mind if I do! One might conclude that this was almost diametrically opposed to Jura’s embrace of seven woods and an iridescent orange color for their official distillery range.

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Whisky: Jura 12 Year (2011), Douglas Laing Cask DL17437 for K&L

Country/Region: Scotland/Islands

ABV: 57.1%

Cask: Refill Bourbon Barrel

Age: 12 Years (Distilled April 2011, Bottled March 2024)

Notes: Malty and rather medicinal with mellow antiseptic vibes, herbal tinctures, and plenty of cleansing citrus— I imagined a hospital pediatric floor with a bakery by the elevator. Glazed orange cakes, green apples, and brown sugar buns led to tamarind with a kiss of salt. Hints of cotton candy combined with medicinal undercurrents to hit something like cotton candy flavored fluoride at the dentist. Medium-bodied, the palate was straightforward and less medicinal— though hints of antiseptics lingered around the edges. Malty and bready, with plenty of lemon and orange flavored buns, apple fritters, sesame seed pretzels, birthday cake icing, and a kiss of salt— the bakery was open! A touch bitter toward the end, like polished metal and whole nutmeg. The finish was medium-length with cake frosting and a touch of overcooked sugar.

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Score: 5 (74)

Mental Image: Bakery-based Medicine

Conclusion: Jura tends to be more eccentric than most, and this delivered a small bundle of oddities with an otherwise malty core that mirrored something of a stereotypical classic Speyside profile. I missed the swampier aspects of peated Jura, as this was rather tame— you could have told me this was a Glenlossie and I would have believed you. Despite the refill cask, the wood played a significant role in the evolution of the flavor profile, especially in some of the brown sugar and slightly bitter notes toward the end. Those aspects struck me as the shadow of new oak, perhaps an artifact of the smaller cask format (barrel being a good bit smaller than a hogshead). 

Overall, this was pleasant and I thought water helped smooth out some of the rougher edges, but I would not seek this out again… still, for $60, one could do a lot worse.