Isle of Jura 12 Year Old Elixir

Exactly one year ago, I tried the Jura 12 Elixir, bottled for Sainsbury at 40% and presented in half bottles of 35cl. When a worldwide release came only six months later, the ABV was upped to 46%. Well, I had to try that one as well, right? So I got me a sample from my buddy, known as Jura Glenn.

Citrus and butter, those are the two aromas that I immediately get on this creamy nose. Then the hazelnuts and tobacco leaves emerge. Softly spiced. It has a bittersweet side as if from grapefruit or Sevilla oranges. Slightly bitter also from chestnuts, which I also encountered in the 40% version. And a touch of silt. This one is fuller and rounder than its little brother.

Nicely oily and prickly on the palate. Spicier than on the nose. Black pepper, ginger and a pinch of cloves. Nice smoky edge as well. The sherry cask influence is very clear now. Honey, coffee and pipe tobacco. Lemon tart and orangettes. Midpalate, it becomes a tad bitter.

That continues on in the medium long finish, in which vanilla and peat slowly fade.

The higher alcohol percentage gives this Elixir more punch and roundness, making it clearly the better version. Around 35 EUR.

In 2011, a few days shy of Christmas, Isle of Jura launched a special release of their new 12 Year Old Elexir, bottled at 40% ABV and sold in 350ml bottles, exclusively through the British Sainsbury stores. Less than six months later, the general release, this time bottled at 46%, was available. I will be trying the 40% version from a small bottle. It is a mix of both American and European casks.

The nose is surprisingly fatty and rather atypical for Jura. It reminds me of lemon cake, heavily sprinkled with cinnamon and ginger. Tobacco as well, from your grandfather’s pipe. Some nuts, too. Hazelnuts and chestnut. But it has something that I can only describe as a rancid edge. I cannot put the finger to it, which annoys me to no end. I want to like the nose, but I just cannot.

It is oily and mouthcoating, showing some good body. Sweet and spicy, just as the label promised. There is a clear influence of the sherry cask here. Orangettes, woodsmoke and again those nuts. Raisins and dades. Plums on syrup. Pleasant.

The finish is rather long. Only now, at the end, does the peat show itself.

The palate and finish claim a good whisky, but the nose keeps irritating me. I am somewhat curious as to the 46% version. Anyone?

Jura is hard at work, producing new expressions, and after the very limited ‘1976, comes this one, which is less limited, yet sold only in the UK and in Sainsbury’s. yes, available only at that UK retail chain…

Why Elixir? The Jura distillery has a tradition of drawing upon the island’s myths and legends, as inspiration for their whiskies and Elixir is another example of that. This folklore say that the island’s water, used in all their whiskies, has life-prolonging and mystical health-giving properties. Several Diurachs (people living on the isle of Jura) claimed to have lived to their hundreds, including one man who, according to his gravestone, lived to be 180 years old. (see pic of his tomb stone).

As for the whisky it’s a vatting of casks Finished in a mix of American White Oak and Sherry casks and sold in a wee 375ml bottle.

Nose : Fruity and quite sweet and sherried with hints of tobacco in addition to dried plums and dry cherubs. Some cinnamon and citrus in the edges. Quite some wood. It’s heavier than expected. Palate : Sweet , and spicy. With dried fruit, wood spice, oak. A bit nutty and gingery. The sherry is king here. No doubt. Not much smoke, not at all . Finish : Medium with chocolate powder , raisins and plums.

Bottom line:

So, how is it? Actually It’s quite good. for some reason I was expecting something more like the Superstition or Prophecy (not sure why, since the box says “Fruity & Spicy” and it’s just that). A lot of lovely sherry effects, and interesting combination of dried fruits and those cherubs.

Lovely wintery dram, and at that price, you’ve better pick one the next time your’e out shopping in Sainsbury’s. It’s a small bottle,so you can’t go wrong there.