Jura 1997-2013 - Gordon & MacPhail - Connoisseurs Choice

The Jura distillery was originally built on the island of the same name in 1810, but closed between 1901 and 1963, when distillation recommenced after a rebuild by new owners Charles Mackinlay & Co. Invergordon bought Mackinlay & Co. in 1985 and were then themselves acquired by Whyte & Mackay in 1993. After some spectacular twists and turns, Whyte & Mackay is today owned by Emperador, a subsidiary of the Philippines-based Alliance Global. 

Jura’s single malt whisky has been officially released in the familiar oval bottle since the early 1970s. Official bottlings were historically always bottled as Isle of Jura but today are sometimes labelled simply as Jura. Often dismissed as a little too mainstream, Jura surprised many whisky fans with some acclaimed cask strength peated whiskies in the early years of this century. At auction independent bottlings of 1960s vintage Juras by Cadenhead’s, Samaroli and Signatory are highly sought after.

Founded in Elgin as a merchant grocer and wine and spirits wholesaler in 1895, Gordon & MacPhail are one of the oldest independent whisky bottlers in Scotland. Co-founder James Gordon owned shares in Longmorn, Strathisla and Glen Grant, and Gordon & MacPhail were soon bottling officially licensed single malts from several distilleries and sending empty casks from their wine business to be filled with new make spirit and returned for maturation in their Elgin warehouses.

Gordon & MacPhail pioneered high strength single malts at 100 proof (57%) in the 1950s, and in 1968 the company launched Connoisseurs Choice, one of the first integrated ranges of small batch independent whisky bottlings. After finally becoming distillers themselves with the purchase of Benromach in 1993, in 2010 Gordon & MacPhail bottled the first 70-year-old single malt whisky (a Mortlach 1938) and in 2020 the company released the first ever 80-year-old whisky: Glenlivet 1940.