Jura 21 Years Old 1992 Old Particular (51.2%, Douglas Laing, Refill HH #10304, 271 Bottles, 2014)

51.2% ABV, £95 for 70cl

Score: 89/100

What they say:

Single malt from the Isle of Jura, bottled by Douglas Laing for the Old Particular range. This independently bottled beauty was distilled in October 1992 and bottled in March 2014. This has given the whisky ample time to develop superbly sweet notes of marmalade, white chocolate and even cookie dough! The single refill hogshead produced 271 bottles of single malt Scotch whisky.

What I say:

A 21 year old Jura from Douglas Laing’s Old Particular range, bottled at cask strength. Sounds delicious – let’s see if it was…

Colour:

Straw Gold

Nose:

White chocolate buttons/milkybar, coconut oil, Horlicks malt drink, cookie dough, hay, buttermilk

Taste:

Fruity and zestier than the nose suggests, apple, peach and tangerine or marmalade, slightly yeasty bread dough then sponge cake mix, old oaky wood

Finish:

Long oak wood and some vanilla sweetness

Would I buy it:

A big ask as this is close to my self-limited maximum (I find it very hard to justify spending more than £70 and definitely no more than £100 on an individual bottle of whisky – after all I’m only going to drink it!). This comes close though as my score attests, I really enjoyed this unusual but interesting and complex dram. I’m always convinced that Jura produces good whisky it just feels a shame that it only truly shines in reasonably rare bottlings such as this one. A fantastic selection (as usual) from DL & Co.