Prophecy

What a beautiful peaty Jura!

Shortly after the year 1700, the Campbells of Jura chased away an old prophetess who was known for her wisdom. In revenge, she predicted that the last Campbell would leave the one-eyed island with his meagre possessions in a wagon drawn by a single white horse. This prophecy came true when in 1938 Charles Campbell, who had become one-eyed in the First World War, led his white horse to the old pier for the last time. Like Jura, Prophecy is a beverage steeped in these stories, and each drop tells a different legend.

Colour: old gold with copper and orange highlights.

Nose: precise, subtle. Smoke, fresh fruit and chocolate are intimately interwoven. The whole leads to coconut milk and barley porridge. Still finer, it evolves on buckwheat honey, loukoum, vanilla and black fruits (cherry). The peat is more present accompanied by notes of peanuts. Mineral, rocky.

Mouth: firm, rather dry. If the smoke is more intense, so are the fruit notes. At this stage, the influence of sherry is noticeable (praline). There is something evanescent in the mid-palate. Vegetal (cut hay), citrus (lemon, grapefruit) gives it an invigorating acidity.

Finish: long. Never mellow, its dryness even takes on a semi-desert quality. Hints of chestnut and dried mushrooms slide gently into malting barley. The empty glass is splendid: raspberry, apricot, fig, smoke.

THE BRAND

Only connected to Islay by a mini-ferry, the distillery is probably one of the most isolated in Scotland. So it's not surprising that its single malt is so easily identifiable, the isolation having forged a whole character tinged with a comforting and exotic feel. Lightly peated, Jura has a minty pear freshness to go with its malty and salty notes in its 10 and 16 year old expressions. To be more like its neighbour Islay, Jura has even started to produce a highly peated single malt: Superstition.