Scotch Whisky Review #404: Jura 19 Year Travel Exclusive “The Paps” PX Sherry Finish

Distillery: Jura.

Region: Island.

Age: 19 Year.

ABV: 45.6%.

Cask Type: Ex-Bourbon maturation, “enhanced by casks which held forty year old Pedro Ximénez sherry”.

Price: ISK 12,990 at Keflavik International Airport, around $100.

Color: 1.6, Mahogany/Henna Notes.

---

Nose: The first pour of this had a really wonky nose. It was very much a strange mix of dried herbs and potpourri while reminding me of a Craigellachie. The second pour I had of this a couple of days later was quite different. The dried herb notes stuck around, though they were far less prominent but the potpourri up and vanished. In its place were strong notes of something best described as an alcoholic jaffa cake. Chocolate and orange were the mainstays with a boozy sponge cake note coming in with them. Really delightful.

Palate: The first note out of the gates was than of warm malt. The alcoholic jaffa cake notes from the nose kick in pretty quickly thereafter with the orange, chocolate, and boozy cake. After some air time, a bit of something that reminds me a lot of mom’s carrot cake comes through. Her carrot cake is loaded full of chopped walnuts and has a consistency closer to a sticky toffee pudding, particularly in density and moistness, than your average one.

Finish: Medium in length. There is a bit of ginger, more of the carrot cake notes, and some orange oils to wrap things up.

---

Conclusion: When I go bottle shopping, like most I’d imagine, there are a number of items on the mental checklist that might lure me to grabbing something blindly. Cover up the distillery name on this one and this Jura checked many of them as I was browsing through Duty Free. Sherry cask finish? Check. Decent ABV? Check. Decent price for the age statement? Check. I was, like many would be, put off by the name though. Jura, the butt of many jokes, plus travel retail, the butt of even more jokes, did not seem like a winning combination. Still, curiosity got the better of me and I’m glad it did. It seems two negatives worked themselves into a massive positive. This Jura strikes all the right notes. It has a great flavor profile, I don’t think there is a treat I enjoy more than jaffa cakes, and has a dose of nostalgia with the carrot cake notes. I’ve found myself reaching for this bottle almost every night since I’ve opened it, something I’ll need to contain so I don’t run out faster than I’d like.

Final Score: 87.

---

Scotch Whisky Review #404, Island Review #66, Whisky Network Review #558

---

Scoring Legend:

• 96-100: The perfect dram, nectar of the gods.
• 90-95: Near perfect, there is something truly special about this whisky.
• 85-89: Amazing, will always try to keep a bottle of this in my collection (if feasible).
• 80-84: Very Good, maybe only one minor nitpick about the whisky keeping it here.
• 75-79: Good, quite enjoyable to drink.
• 70-74: Solid, wouldn’t go out of my way to get it.
• 60-69: Meh, still drinkable.
• Below 59: If you have a bottle of this, start cooking with it instead.