Been a while since A new interesting Jura expression was released, and I mean one with actual Age. This one has everything we’re looking for in a whisky : Age (20 yo!) , Cask Strength (51%!), No Additional coloring (am I dreaming?!) , and no chill filtration and all this for £120, which in today’s price climate is not a bad price (oh dear!) , In short: A de-Dalmorized Jura – Let’s rejoice!
So, where’s the catch you ask? Well, the only issue might be with the casks : One And All is matured in American White Oak ex-bourbon barrels and specially prepared with Jura aged in Sherry wood, Sparkling Cabernet Franc casks, Cabernet Sauvignon casks and Pinot Noir barriques. hm… Quite a few wine casks of all kinds, i wonder. Let’s try it shall we?
Jura One and All , 51% abv , £120
Nose : quite fragrant and lovely with rich apricot pie, orange marmalade, and black berries. Vanilla with caramelized apples, honeysuckle and cinnamon/ginger. Multi Layered and fairly Complex, not much wood though… With all the wine casks going into the vatting it’s surprisingly not a wine-sky (which is a big plus!)
Palate: deep and concentrated with the fruit dominating, once again there’s quite a lot of ripe berries, cherries, with a slight bitterness that balances the fruity notes. Black tea, dark chocolate and burnt toast, with traces of tobacco leaf, and wax.
Finish : bitter toast, wood and mocha
So what have we here? An excellent rich / fruity notes, and a nice palate, that’s a tad less focused. What I am missing here most of all is the “old” wood notes i would expect from a 20 year old whisky, I guess the funky wine casks are the culprit, and Although they do impart a certain bitter-ish fruity notes, I was looking forward for some good old wood, and that’s not to be found here. I wonder why Jura insist on using so many different wine casks in their recent releases (This / last year’s Tastivals too).
A very good whisky that could have scored a few points more without all the wine casks…
Score: 86/100