My favorite fact about Jura is that the island has more deer than people… what’s that? I cannot use that as my Jura fact? I’ve overused it and it’s not all that interesting? Okay, but there are only about 200 people on the island and many of them are employed at the distillery or connected industries, the island is about as close to a company island as you will find these days.

My second favorite fact is that George Orwell, seeking a refreshing and invigorating environment to recover from tuberculosis, and those were often found by the sea or in the mountains, spent time on Jura. It was during a convalescent session on the island that he pinned his dystopian, and prophetic, novel 1984.

As to the whisky produced there; I consider Jura an eccentric malt frequently tamed by the use of heavy casks and low abvs for retail products. The fact that so many of its products are low abv, chill-filtered, and orange colored has not endeared the distillery to the enthusiast, hobbyist, or social media crowd. Yet, the distillery makes great whisky.

Though I often seek out independent bottlings over official releases, I was quite the fan of Jura’s Superstition and Prophecy. Now discontinued, those releases used peated malt, an ingredient the distillery has unfortunately had more trouble sourcing (at least in 2023 when Diageo limited sales from Port Ellen Maltings, I would not be shocked if that has changed with distilleries cutting back on production).

The core range features a breadth of ages and maturations, and various special editions are ubiquitous on the Duty Free market. While the distillery may not be popular with more niche consumers, it does enjoy an enviable level of popular awareness and engagement. According to the 2025 Malt Whisky Yearbook, the Jura single malt surpassed Glenfiddich in the UK in 2022. I would not be shocked to find that it had grown remarkably across markets globally with the number of times I have found the odd bottle of Jura in a non-scotch drinker’s home (a far more common occurrence than finding one in the home of a self-described enthusiast).

So here we go, a week dedicated to all things Jura. As the malt is somewhat uncommon among independent bottlers these days (perhaps post-2014 when Emperador bought Whyte & Mackay), it is unlikely I will get around to another Jura week for a few years.

Artwork this week is my own; Jurassic Park was a massive part of my childhood from listening to my dad read the book as a bedtime story or the box office smash hit. Here is an homage, still one of my earlier efforts at drawing again: I figured out how to do layering much more effectively, but clearly needed some help on perspective. I think I have gotten a bit better since, but it’s easy to improve when you start at the bottom!