Going back to its roots, so to speak, the simply named Jura Vintage 1977 honors the Yew tree – or “Juar” in Gaelic – a conifer with ancient symbolic associations with immortality, rebirth and the “otherworld”. A beautiful tree in its own right, vast expanses of Yew once covered the Isle of Jura, the eponymous home of the legendary single malt whisky distillery.
Just 498 bottles of the Vintage 1977 will be sold, presented in a handsome solid oak box – not yew as you might imagine because interestingly enough the bark of the yew tree is toxic – each individually crafted by hand by Scottish-based artisan John Galvin.
Filled to cask 36 years ago and released in 2013, the limited edition vintage was originally matured in three first fill bourbon casks before being finished in a ruby port pipe for 12 months.
Jura’s tasting notes say the resulting deep golden ambrosia is sweet and warm, with the nose emanating comforting notes of peach melba, maple syrup and creamy dark caramel, before segueing to a lingering finish of pear, apricot and passion fruit…intoxicating and otherworldly indeed.