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distilleries
Jura Distillery
With a history of illicit distilling, The Isle of Jura’s first licenced distillery was established in 1810 by the Laird of Jura, Archibald Campbell. Sadly the distillery spent its first century failing to properly establish itself within the market.
Undergoing many name changes including Craighouse, Small Isles and Caol nan Eilean, the distillery passed from owner to owner until its eventual closure in 1901, during scotch whisky’s first major sales slump.
Seen as a great opportunity to slow the declining island population, Jura was re-opened by landowners Robin Fletcher and Tony Riley-Smith in 1960. Financially supported by Leith-based blender Charles Mackinlay & Co, the distillery was rebuilt to the design and specification of whisky legend William Delme-Evans.
Further expanded in 1978, the distillery now features tall four stills with a capacity of over 20,000 litres. Due to the relatively short ferments, whisky produced at Jura requires longer periods of time in the cask to open fully.
Although the island is a great source of peat, the distillery surprisingly opted against distilling peated whisky, instead creating whisky solely for the current market trends. The distillery released its first single malt in 1974. Enjoying a steady growth in sales ever since, Jura is now an established brand found in major supermarkets, travel retail and whisky stores.
