Jura Tastival 2017 70cl 51°

Some say Isle of Jura is the oldest distillery of Scotland. Indeed, the first traces of distillation hark back to the 16th century. The distillery was renamed several times. It successively bore the name of Caol'nan Eilean, Craighouse, Small Isles and Lagg.

Built in 1810, the first to obtain a license to distil is William Abercrombie, in 1831. In the following year, Archibald Fletcher took over the distillery and managed for 20 years. It changed owner many times in the 19^th century: J&A Gardner, Norman Buchanan, J.K. & D. Orr and James Furgusson. As the landlord decided to collect taxes on the land, the Furgusson family moved all the equipment to Glasgow. This did not deter the landlord to pursue the Furgusson’s who came back to the Isle of Jura and dismantled the distillery’s roofs. Indeed, law exempted all roofless structures from taxation. More recently, after 40 years of closure between 1914 and 1948, the distillery was fully rebuilt with financial support from Scottish & Newcastle Breweries. The architect who rebuilt the distillery is well known in the whisky world, as it is Delmé Evans, who also rebuilt, amongst others, the Glenallachie and Tullibardine distilleries.

The Scottish & Newcastle Breweries sold the distillery to Invergordon, which was purchased by White & Mackay and became in 2001 Kyndal Spirits. The Kyndal Spirits became in 2003 Whyte & Mackay Ltd. The distillery is one of the flagships of Whyte & Mackay. The wide and tall stills of the distillery have been conceived to produce a light distillate, enabling Isle of Jura to contribute to the Whyte & Mackay blends. The range has considerably expanded these last few years also with the creation of peated versions of Jura whisky.