I don’t have too much experience with Jura and I can’t say I’ve liked any of the (few) official bottles I’ve tried very much—see here for my review of the “Superstition”. The “Prophecy” generally gets better reviews, however, and so I’m intrigued. And no, I have no idea why these whiskies are called “Superstition” and “Prophecy”. I’m not usually a fan of the overly farmy variety of peated whisky, though I have liked some young Ledaigs of late. Where will this one fall?

Jura “Prophecy” (46%; from a sample from a fellow whisky geek)

Nose: Very strong farmy notes, rotting compost and probably a critter or two in there too. Calms down as it sits and sweeter, inkier notes come out to join the organic notes which are now more leafy than rodent in origin. There’s some fruit buried deeper down but I can’t quite pick it. Let’s see if time and/or water pull it out. Yes, with water there’s citrus (lime) and something muskier too. A bit of vanilla and cream too now.

Palate: Starts out with leafy smoke and adds a bit of acid as I work it around my tongue. Sourer still on the second sip and the fruit hinted at on the nose aren’t leaping out here either. With a little more time here’s some of the ink from the nose but the fruit still hasn’t arrived—this seems to mostly be about the leafy smoke. Wait, the sour notes turn clearly to citrus, to very sour lime, to be exact. Some salt too now. Okay, let’s see what water does. With water it’s less acidic and there’s better balance. Softer mouthfeel now.

Finish: Long. Not a whole lot of development. More lime as it goes. With water it gets ashier at the back-end.

Comments: You know, this is not my preferred peat profile but it’s an interesting change-up from quintessential Islay peat. Much more integrated than the “Superstition” with a much nicer mouthfeel.

Rating: 84 points.

Thanks to Jerome for the sample!