Jura is the only distillery on its namesake island, just north of Islay. Home to fewer than 200 people, the island counts the distillery at the very heart of its community, standing in the middle of Craighouse, its biggest town.
The present distillery was built between 1960 and 1963 by Robin Fletcher and Tony Riley-Smith, in partnership with Charles Mackinlay & Co., on the grounds of an earlier Jura distillery founded in 1810 and dismantled in 1901. Its architect, William Delmé-Evans — previously of Tullibardine and later Glenallachie — remained on the board until his retirement in 1975.
In contrast to the heavily peated whiskies of neighbouring Islay, Jura’s single malts lean towards the Highland style, though experimental peated bottlings from the late 1990s have reached the market to some acclaim.
